Beginnings
by LuciferDragon
Summary: After a final falling out with Mukuro, Hiei meets Enma's new employees, discovering they are on the case Yusuke had been pursuing for weeks now. Could he find a second chance with the demonic leader of the team? If they're not killed along the way. M/F
1. Introduction

**Before you begin, if you've come across this fic by chance, there are a few things I'd like to get out of the way. First off, this is meant to be read as if two years had passed since Enki was given the crown, and since Yusuke was fired. People do change over two years...**  
**Secondly and lastly, my view on Demon World. We saw that they had TVs and diners when the Demon World Tournament was undergoing its final preparations and even when it was beginning. So for that, and for the fact Human World is a combination of different cultures and people, I believe Demon World would be similar. Only the streets of cities or forest dwellers would all be demons.**  
**Now then, I think I've chewed your ears off (or really bitten out your eyes) long enough. If you're still up for giving this fic a chance, then by all means proceed.**

1.

Three years had passed since the Demon World Tournament. Enki's law of keeping humans off the main course list had gone, for the most part, untainted, though a few chose to ignore that rule. Or, humans would stumble upon a portal without realizing and enter demon world. While Enki had employed demons to keep the laws in check, Lord Enma also saw need to make his own team of employees. Another Spirit Detective group to replace the one Yusuke Urameshi had created over those few years. No human had untapped spiritual energy such as the boy's, so as much as he despised the idea, he enlisted the aid of four female demons to work for him. Each had their own criminal record to pay off, one worse than the other.

Sukuna Kumo, spider demon, age one hundred and ninety-nine, wanted for arson, extortion, and accessory to murder. Kitsu Shiori, fox demon, age one hundred and ninety-seven, wanted for thievery, arson, drug possession, and involuntary manslaughter. Hyouga Inoki, dog/ice demon, age two hundred and nine, wanted for murder in the second degree, voluntary manslaughter, thievery, various hate crimes and accessory to murder. She had become partners with the worse of the four. Shakaku Fanelia, preferred name 'Sha', black dragon/fire demon, age two hundred and thirty, wanted for mass murder in the second and first degree, grand arson, thievery, and various hate crimes. Shakaku and Hyouga had met up after her rampage of a hundred years and both entered into a friendship unbreakable by any one.

For fifty years they killed and stole, until they stopped one day to look back on what they had done. Shakaku, two hundred and six at that time, was tired of the needless bloodshed and running from the demons they stole from. She became disgusted with the honorless killings she had started, all out of a petty revenge streak. Hyouga, then one hundred and eighty-five, gave a solo run a few more months before stopping herself.

They were able to hide for twenty-two years before they were found by some of Enma's special spirit defense force and captured. After a year in a top security cell, the two were released, along with Sukuna and Kitsu, on probation in the form of employment to Enma himself. The girls worked and bonded over a year, working on cleaning up what Enki's demons would always miss around the borders of demon world. Their reputation already bad by their past crimes, were made worse as they became the demon spirit detective team.

One day, as Sha was almost done with her last mound of paperwork for the week and looking forward to going home, her office door opened quickly, sending a small gust of wind that knocked over her remaining stack. "Who am I going to be killing—!" she started to yell, but stopped abruptly when she saw a familiar girl with blue hair. "Botan, what is it?"

"I'm terribly sorry for your stack of papers, and I'll clean it up while you're gone," the ferry girl said, a bit of anxiousness apparent in her voice, "but you're needed in Lord Koenma's office right away. Some urgent case has come up, and you've been requested."

She groaned, sinking into her seat. "But Botan, it's the weekend! We all had plans. You, me, and the girls."

"I know Sha, but it's not up to me. You should know I was looking forward to this weekend as well. This case is top priority though." She bit her lip. "There's always other weekends to go male-hunting."

Sha scoffed. "Not if Koenma keeps working us to the bone on days we have those plans." She put her head in her hands. "It's not like I'm stalling, it's just this isn't what I expected, you know?"

"Of what, Sweetie?"

"Look at me. I'm two hundred and thirty years old. Still on probation from a horrible past that I was an idiot for getting involved in. Still single, still childless. My father's been hounding me for years now to finish growing up."

"I think a lot of people in your situation would have done as you did."

"What, murder everyone and everything in my path? It was stupid, and for what? Revenge on the murder of my mate. I got my revenge, oh yes. Hyouga and I found the sorry bastard. I killed him with no hesitation as he killed the man I loved the most. Pouring a hundred plus years of hatred and venom into tearing him apart." She paused and gazed at Botan, growing quiet as she continued on. "And do you know what I felt after that?"

Botan shook her head.

"Remorse. Sadness beyond anything I knew. I had wasted, just so much of my life, to hunt down one man, only to feel nothing of what I thought I'd feel. I figured it'd be happiness, triumph. Never regret. The raid after that, I stopped. I couldn't kill without honor anymore. I know I should have turned myself in, but I was scared. So, naturally, I ran." She let out a low sigh, as if glad to get that off her chest. "I know I have many sins to atone for, and doing this job will help, but it will never clean my hands of the blood I've shed." She got up, unpinning her raven and scarlet hair. "Sorry for loading that on you. I just figured you deserved to know. We have become friends over the past year anyway."

The ferry girl wiped at her eyes. "If there's anything I can do—"

Sha shook her head. "Just be a good friend, that's all I ask. I don't have very many of those anymore, and even less family members who want a lick of anything to do with me."

Botan hugged the much shorter demon before they both went to get the others.

* * *

"So what is this grand master problem that has appeared to ruin our weekend?" Sha asked as her and the other three girls entered his domain. She had taken leader over time, only due to the fact the other three had dubbed her as such. She had changed from her dress suit into things that she normally wore when heading into missions: a black halter top, and pants that flowed slightly around her ankles, from them being longer than her short stature. They had to be custom made, suitable for the black, reptilian tail that swayed about behind her. Dragons were notoriously tall, but being only half of one, she didn't get many perks of that half of her heritage. The only thing to give her away, besides the tail, were two winged tattoos on her shoulder blades: her wings that were lying dormant. She tucked her red bangs behind her small, pointed ears, showing two silver hoops.

"I have a mission for you in Demon World, though that is customary for you." Koenma, in his teen form, handed her a file that she opened for the other three to see as well. He had given up looking his toddler self, since the girls had never learned restraint on their hysteria. "It seems we have a breech in the law. Around a certain portal, numerous counts of humans have gone missing. Mukuro's team normally patrols the area to find wayward humans, but she reports that none have been found recently. Demons are still assumed to be involved, though no suspects have been found."

"Are you sure it's not some human serial killer?" Kitsu said, eyeing Koenma warily with her intense hazel gaze. Out of boredom, she pulled her wavy purple hair behind her in a mock pony-tail before releasing it again. "You've sent us on a similar wild goose chase before. Hyouga had to scare the piss out of the killer to keep him from running." She cocked one of her white-tipped orange fox ears to the side, flicking the matching tail behind her. Her black bellbottoms covered a pair of leather boots, and tank top with matching sleeves clung to her skin. Unlike Sha's nails, which were naturally black, hers was an amethyst in color, matching the poisonous energy she used to fight with. Her tail also contained seeds she used to transform into weapons that were customary for animal spirits to use.

"No, this time we're sure. We ran some background checks, and no crimes have risen in that area for quite some time."

"What's the bounty?" Hyouga asked, examining the photographs of the area in question, her amber eyes taking in every little detail. She didn't have to hunch over Sha to easily see what the file contained. Being a half dog demon, she could handle evidence and close cases faster than most. Photographs alone were a bit tricky, but her keen amber eyes, sense of smell, and hearing were always a valuable asset. She tucked her lavender dog ears close to her head, making them seem to blend in with her hair of the same color. Like Sha, she wore her favorite color (or lack thereof), of purple. Her violet long-sleeved shirt dipped low over her chest, and ended around her wrists. She also wore black jeans with the cuffs turned up, showing her purple and white shoes.

"The equivalent of $500,000, to split between you four if you succeed."

"Nice, good for my rent this year," Sha said as she noted the area. "Why hasn't Mukuro done a stake-out?"

"They've tried that. Why do you think my father wants you four sent in? Mukuro personally requested your presence. She believes that it must be a hidden portal along the stream of the one above ground, as so not to be located. They've tried to find any source of a cave system; nothing's come up."

"Tch, typical," Sukuna said, rolling her blood-red eyes. Her skin was dark, much darker than the other girls, and deep red, small horns extended from her forehead. Her pointed ears drooped downward, giving her a somewhat hard-to-use hook for her black hair. The red shirt she had on showed her navel, and she subconsciously tugged at it from time to time. Her pants ended above her ankles, showing off red sneakers. She too had black nails, although hers came with little passageways beneath them, showing exactly where her spider-abilities came into play.

"We're on it," Kitsu added in. "When are we to leave?"

"ASAP, so leave me to my paperwork," Koenma answered. With a swish of his scarf he seated himself behind his desk and started his work again.

The girls left without another word, heading to the nearest secured portal to Demon World.


	2. Greetings!

2.

Nothing had really changed in Demon World. Though it was still oddly quiet, even after three years, of not hearing Raizen's stomach growling. The only things to normally break the silence were random streaks of lightning, followed by thunder, a few birds and…

"Oi, Hiei!"

Hiei rolled his eyes, choosing to ignore the voice as he continued his patrol. He was already pissed off more than usual as it was. Someone tagging along would only make it worse. Mukuro had finally done it and severed their relationship. She didn't want to settle down like he did. He was tired of fighting a losing battle, yet she persisted. So in the end, she banished him from her bed and her life. If that's how she wanted it, fine. He'd deal.

"Do you not hear me? I'm talking to you!"

He finally stopped and let the owner of the voice catch up to him. It belonged to his friend Salem. "Should've known. You're the only one who doesn't care if he shows disrespect."

Salem put his hands on his hips. "Well you're just a ball of sunshine, what happened to you?"

"What do you think happened?" He turned his attention back to the forest's edge. "We're done. Kaput. Finished."

His shadow friend let out a low whistle. "I knew you two were arguing the past few months, but really that serious?"

"She thinks being mated is a joke, and hates kids."

"Well, you kind of do as well." He held his hands up in surrender as he was awarded a death glare from the shorter demon.

"Well because of her views and my persistence, she gave me the swift kick out. So fuck her, and fuck what she's doing."

Salem's eyes went wide. "You rarely curse, this must have hit below the belt."

"You've never offered to spend eternity with a woman; you wouldn't know the blow it does to your ego."

"I'm just waiting for the right one to pop up," he folded his arms behind his head. "But hey, you're a single man again. We'll hop on down to the nearest titty bar and have some fun."

Hiei rolled his eyes. "I have no need for sluts. I'd just like to be able to do my job and forget this thing ever happened in the first place, as odd as it will be working here now. There are more important things at hand then my dysfunctional personal life."

"Like what?" Salem said, setting his purple eyes in a serious gaze. "I know you haven't told me much in the two years we've been friends, but I know you well enough that the only things you care about are power, and protecting those who have proven themselves worthy in your eyes."

"True as that may be, I'm just… getting tired of it all."

The shadow demon's jaw dropped. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me well enough," Hiei snapped back. "Look, I've lived a long time now, and where have I gotten? My goals are set and finished, and what good would power give me? What else can I possibly obtain more powerful than the dormant dragon on my arm?" At these words, the dragon shifted a bit, sensing its master's swirl of emotions. It made it feel… uneasy. "I thought I could end my long path of searching with Mukuro, and I was foolish enough to believe that it was to be anything more than a horrible experience."

Salem sat in the grass, running a hand through his long red bangs. "You've never really discussed more than you've needed to with me. I've given you lodging before when all of these arguments started a year ago. If you need, you can move in there permanently. No further questions asked. I know you too well to pry."

"Yusuke is already staying there though, I couldn't possibly do that."

Salem smirked, the cross-shaped scar on his left pale cheek pulling back. "You already have a room, you know this. You also know my house is not small by any means." His smirk faded. "I just wish you'd tell me a little more of why you're tired now."

Hiei looked around, trying to find something to distract himself with. When nothing appeared, he growled. "It's as the humans say, I suppose. 'I'm not getting any younger'."

"Ah but you're not getting any older either."

"You're making me not want to talk to you again." Seeing Salem throw his hands in front of him as a sign of surrender, he continued. "I've had my run. Crimes, felonies. I've found- I've accomplished my goals. Both that I've carried since I was born. I've attained a rare power hard for anyone to control, and tamed it." He laughed a little. "Guess I have a way with dragons."

"Possibly." Salem plucked at a blade of grass, consuming it in a ball of shadows out of boredom. "Your claims are understandable though. I've probably lived half as long as you and I'm bored too. I'd love a mate, some offspring. A stable life."

"Back it up a bit. I'm not so sure on a mate anymore, along with that, I'm not certain on kids either."

"Oh c'mon, you don't want to be 'daddy dearest'?"

Hiei rolled his eyes again and continued with his patrol. "You have a way of making me hate you more."

"Oh you're just saying that." Salem drew the shadows back into his palm, making the blade show again. He let it fall as he got up to follow his friend. "You know you love me."

"Hardly. Not sure what you've been told, but I don't swing that way."

"What will you do now?"

"Keep working, and avoid the corridors to her chambers when inside the compound. Nothing more to it. The remains of what I have there I don't even care enough about to get. Most of my things have been gradually brought to your house this past year."

Salem laughed a bit, "Yeah, you have been progressively moving in as it is." He stopped though, as if he had thought of something.

Hiei noticed and turned around. "Did your brain stop again?"

"What if she wants you back?"

He tried distracting himself again. "… I don't know."

Salem whapped Hiei in the back of the head, causing said fire demon to whirl around on him with his sword. Salem stopped the blade with his hands covered in the same black mass he had used to vanish the blade of grass. "You're more a fool than I thought you were!"

"What was that about?" Hiei yelled back, now extremely angry.

"Look at how miserable you've been the past year! You never open up to anyone, but we all saw it! Think of it, did she ever make you truly happy?"

Hiei growled, curling his lip at the shadow demon. "What business is it of yours? Or anyone's for that matter?"

"It's no one's business if they don't care about you. I'm your friend, remember? Just answer me that. Did she make you happy? In this last year?"

Hiei was silent for a minute, calming down a slight degree. "… No. It wasn't the same as when we met. While we were never completely intimate, she changed in that sense… Got more aggressive." He narrowed his gaze. "What warrior would I be if I let her have complete control as a female?"

Salem let go of the blade, allowing it to come back to light. "That's all you need to think about, if she does approach you again. To ask yourself 'Is it worth the same torture'?"

Hiei scoffed. "It's not like I've had much luck in finding compassion my entire life." Then he mentally slapped himself. He had let something slip he didn't want out.

"… No woman… ever—"

"Just drop it. Forget I said anything." Just in time, a faint noise rose up from the woods next to them, near a close portal, taking shape into the sound of voices. He narrowed his eyes in the direction of distant noise. Motioning for his friend to follow, he kept his sword at the ready and leapt into the trees, scoping out the intruders.

Instead of the normal humans stumbling out of the portal area, it was four demon girls.

Hiei got a nudge in the ribs from Salem. "What?" he hissed.

"The one with the light purple ears is a babe," he whispered, waggling his brows.

Hiei stared closer at the quad and narrowed his eyes. "Steady yourself. Those are the four Enma has employed."

"Oh? And how would you know that?"

Hiei nodded to the one with the dragon tail and small demonic winged tattoos on her exposed shoulder blades, the shortest of the group. "Kurama's distant cousin, Shakaku Fanelia. He's talked of her briefly, but that has to be her."

"How can she be a distant cousin? Yoko is a fox. He'd be better at being related to that fox down there."

"As I said, distant cousin. Through family marriages and matings. They are not of blood relations. They were close when she was young though." He eyed them warily. "But what are they doing here?"

"They are demon spirit detectives, they would have the power to settle cases in all three realms unlike Yusuke and Kazuma when they first started."

Hiei held up a hand to silence him as they listened to the girls as they stopped right below them.

"Are you sure that was the right portal?" Sukuna asked, examining a skinned knee from where she had fallen through. She let her pants fall before straightening herself. "This looks really remote."

"There are no portals directly in any of the cities, dip," Hyouga said, bopping the spider demon upside the head, causing said ditz to whine.

"Sha she hit me!"

"_Virse, io-ne_!" she yelled in a foreign language, as though used to the squabbling.

The spider swallowed her wails instantly at the half dragon's rage.

"She does have a slight point though," Kitsu interjected. "Are we sure the smuggler would use a portal like this, that's secured?"

"Of course not. He'd be a fool to try." Sha examined the area around them. "No, but there must be a secret portal nearby."

Hiei and Salem took the opportunity to land in front of them from the trees. "We've looked, there's nothing. Report back to Koenma and leave this place."

The girls took the offensive.

"We're here on orders, stand down soldier," Sha said calmly.

"Soldier?" Hiei spat out. "I do this out of my own free time and pay."

"You are being sorely underpaid then." She summoned a sword of her own and held it at the ready. "Stand down."

"I know what type of person Koenma is better than you think. If you tell him who sent you back he'll accept failure with no question."

"I still need to pay rent, this is to help me with that and means of survival." She narrowed her black eyes. "Unless you'd like a poor little girl like me to waste away."

"You can't fool me, I know who you are. And you know me better than you think." He straightened. "Tell your comrades to stand down. We do not wish to fight."

Sha stared for a second before confirming his request with a motion of her hand. "Who are you exactly then?" She straightened as well, surprising him with the fact she stood two inches shorter than him.

"I fought alongside Yusuke, Yoko, and Kuwabara for a few years. I'm sure you recognize the names."

She narrowed her eyes again. "Yes… you know my cousin?"

"He is one of my few friends, known under the name of Kurama now."

Sha mixed her long red bangs with her longer black hair by tucking it behind a pointed ear. "Then you are not an enemy. Let us introduce ourselves. I am Shakaku Fanelia." She pointed to the tallest girl, the one with lavender dog ears extending from hair of the same color that Salem had thought was cute, and continued on. "This is Hyouga Inoki—" then the next girl, the vixen with hazel eyes and purple hair "—Kitsu Shiori—" and then the last girl, second shortest at 5 feet, with small dark red horns protruding from the dark skin of her forehead "—and this is Sukuna Kumo."

Hiei nodded, taking in the names as those of the vigilantes. "I am Hiei Jaganshi."

"And I'm his lovable shadow friend Salem Himura," Salem said, allowing his first act of speech to sink in. "So you ladies are after the same target as us. We've been trying to find this guy for weeks now."

"Then there must be a mole, as is suggested," Sha said. "Would you mind telling us everything you know?"

Salem shook his head. "You know as much as we do, possibly more. Spirit World is very observant, more than demons."

"Do you two live around here?" Sukuna inquired.

"Oh well I do, but Hiei here…"

"Just lost my place, so I'm staying with The Shadow over here."

"Would you mind at all? It is getting kind of late, and Sha's place is a bit of a walk," Sukuna said.

"No, no problem at all. Plenty of room there. Follow me and we'll head back."

The girls nodded and trailed behind the shadow elemental.

* * *

*Virse io-ne! = Dracish for "Hush, you idiot!"


	3. Family of Old

3.

The girls had to do a double take as they arrived at the mansion on the cliff. Half the walls that could be seen were made of glass, showing his home to be completely modern, in the humanized sense.

"You… live here?" Hyouga asked.

"On the rare occasions. It's been in my family for many a year. I live in it when I need to, and what with Yusuke in the area, and my normal apartment being only a studio, we're here for the time being," Salem explained.

"I'd live here if it was in my family, this is beautiful."

"And this is just the front view. From the east side, you can see the ocean from the top of this cliff." He smiled. "I can show you… if you like."

"Oh, yes please."

He held out an arm like a gentleman and when she took it, led her up the stairs to the house, leaving the other companions in a daze.

"What… just happened there?" Kitsu said. "Hyouga hates the male population."

"Guessing not all of them," Sha said and sighed. "That didn't take very long."

Hiei shook his head. "Follow me, I know where Yusuke is staying currently. He may know a bit of this as well." He led them up the stairs as well, but took an alternate route into the house. They found said human-esque being in the living room, conversing with a red-head.

"I know she's getting tired of all the waiting, but I just can't go back yet. The construction plans still aren't complete. I need to go over a few more things with Enki now that he has the schools almost completed. Can you just deliver the usual message to everyone?"

"Of course, Yusuke."

Sha perked up. "It can't be. Yoko?"

The red-head turned on the couch and his jaw dropped at the female demon in the foyer. "S-shakaku? Is that really you?"

"In the flesh. Now tell me, is that you, Fox?"

"As you said, in the flesh." He got up and gave her a big hug. "It's been ages."

"Last I saw you, you had silver hair. Cosmetic changes?"

He smiled. "In a sense. What brings you here?"

"Things I hope you can help out with. And these are my friends Sukuna and Kitsu." She pointed to each in turn.

"We have another compadre, but she's currently off smooching it up with a certain shadow demon," Sukuna said.

"Which is still amazing me," Kitsu included. "But to each his own, I suppose."

Kurama motioned to the couches. "Come and sit and I'll see how much we can help out."

Sha took a seat with her cousin on the love seat and the other two girls and Hiei took the sofa. "Well I'm sure by now you've heard of this human disappearance business."

Kurama nodded. "It's recently increased in action on the human plane. Where you put on an investigation case?"

"Seems Mukuro needs some backup with her investigation. They've looked in the area the humans are disappearing, where they'd end up, but there's nothing. Just the normal portal to that world. Nothing suspicious-looking at all." Sukuna twirled her hair a bit.

"Yusuke has to see Enki in the morning," Kurama answered. "I'll accompany him and we'll see what other information we can find out. Maybe get a map of the area in question."

"Well, wait," Yusuke started, turning to the fox. "Shouldn't she go? It's her case now."

"You must be curious at least. To know the source of the uproar. Or have you forgotten where the portal on the human-side lets out. It is not far from Keiko, Kuwabara, or anyone we know."

"All right fine. Wake me up on time then." He crossed his arms over his chest and mumbled to himself, though "stupid fox" was clearly audible.

"For now, make yourselves at home," Salem said as he entered the room from a back door. "Sha, there's a room down the west side of the house, second to last on the right side that you can have."

Sha nodded. "How do you get down to the sea?"

"Oh, through the back door, and there's a path down there."

"Thanks. I'll be down there for a few if anyone needs me." She bade them all farewell and left out the said door to the shore.

"So what's up with her?" Yusuke asked. "You guys just got here; party's just getting started."

"Don't forget, you're staying at my home," Salem said, "so no parties just yet."

"Either way, I figured she'd be wanting to catch up with Kurama, however the hell she knows you," Yusuke turned to said fox.

"Guess I'd better start explaining then. She's a distant cousin of mine. We're related on her father's side through marriages and matings of many interspecies bindings. I was close to her as she grew up, but then after…" He shook his head. "Some things are better if she explains them, but after some circumstances, she went her way and we lost contact. Her father tried to get her to contact me again twenty years ago, but it was too late by then. I never thought I'd see her again." He looked to the girls. "Though I am curious as to what could be wrong. Even before everything it wasn't easy to bring her down. That dragon pride of her got in the way."

"Rent is almost due," Kitsu answered. "She can't pay if she doesn't land this deal. So it's a lot on her shoulders."

"Then we'll leave her to her thoughts. Girls, follow me and I'll take you to your rooms," Salem said and motioned for them to follow.


	4. Tricks

4.

Sha carefully climbed down the side of the mountain to the large rock she had seen off the path, wading through a tide pool on the way. It didn't exactly give the best views, being blocked on her immediate right by the cliff-side, but it was nice enough to watch the demonic sunset. Observing the red sky turn a much darker shade always brought comfort to her troubled soul, allowing her time to think. _So here we are, in another rut. No leads, no further information. Now what can we do? It's not like we can turn this down. We each need the cash. And another death to justice is another wrong death off my records. I can't let this go by._ She rubbed fiercely at the corner of one of her eyes, sniffling too. _I hate doing that…_

"It seems you've found my rock."

She turned to the source of the voice to find Hiei standing there on shore. "I don't see your name on it. But if you require time to yourself, so be it." She stood to get up, stumbling slightly.

"Careful. The rocks are slippery."

Sha snarled at him. "I'm fine."

"Just saying…"

She carefully stepped down the rocks, but slipped on the last one. She gave a small squeak before Hiei rushed forward and caught her out of reflex.

"I tried warning you."

She pushed him away and stood a good foot apart from him. "I don't need help. Not from you."

He stared. "I just stopped you from cracking your head open, and you yell at me? Stop and think, what did I do?" He glared. "You women are all alike, no matter what breed you are. You take every act of kindness for granted. Just forget it, I'm done."

"You don't even know me!" She flicked her fingers across her palms to allow her talons to withdraw. "Do not put me in the same category as you put other women, I will not hesitate to attack right back."

"You do not understand." He pulled his sword from its scabbard. "You are all so selfish!" Sha growled low in her throat before she lunged at him, dodging a blow from his sword and slashing up his arm. Though in doing this, she couldn't parry the swing he aimed at her back and she felt the steal sink into her flesh before removing. "Leave before you get yourself killed."

Landing on her hands and knees she quickly pulled into a crouch and stuck her leg out in a spin, knocking him off his feet. Just as fast, she stood, a foot on his chest. "And you do not underestimate a woman. Who could be in your life causing you such thoughts against my gender?"

"It is not something you need be concerned with," he growled. "Now let me up."

"Not until I am answered."

"Someone I thought I was ready to spend the rest of my life with, all right?" he answered hotly. "I am tired of the games, and I'm tired of the bullshit thrown at me. I thought she felt the same, and I was cast away for even believing so."

Digesting his words, she moved and let him get up. "You offered the one you loved to be her mate, and… she refused?"

"Yes, all the while laughing at me. So who needs her?" He brushed the sand off his clothes.

"I've never heard of a female denying the male she loves something like that."

"Yeah well first time for everything." He paused. "Why am I even telling you this?"

"Because I'm not laughing. That was something uncalled for to you, and I apologize in her place." She folded her arms and let her talons shrink.

Hiei scoffed. "It really isn't your place."

"Even so. I was mated once. It is the best feeling in the world, knowing the one you love is bound to you forever."

He narrowed his eyes. "Once?"

"He… was killed." She looked out over the open sea. "I'm sorry, you wanted to be alone. I'll head back to the house and settle in." She took a step away, before stopping and looking back over her shoulder. "You're not alone though. I'm tired of the bullshit life throws at me as well. Maybe we do have more in common than I first thought. I'm sure you know where my room is. Stop by if you ever need to vent. I'm a good listener, when needed." She bade him goodnight and took the path back up to the house.

He stared after her for a bit, a look of bewilderment on his face. She had tried killing him, then felt sympathy? No, not sympathy… empathy. She knew what happened was wrong and shouldn't have been done. Anger still simmering in his gut, Hiei leapt out to his rock and sat to think. Though his thoughts only dragged him to earlier that day, making him even angrier.

He entered their chamber, secretly as always, to see her still submerged in the shadows cast by the dim light of a candle. "I've wanted to ask you something for a while now."

Mukuro stopped her outline of the next week's searching parties and looked at him. "And what, pray tell, would that be?"

"We've been playing this foolish game for two years now, Mukuro. I think it's time to stop. To quit what we're doing and to just live normally." He stood next to her, since she remained in her chair, interested on what he had to say next. "I've attained all I've set out to do, and you have too. So let's stop this. I want you as my mate."

He wasn't prepared for what she did next. It started out quietly, then grew louder. Before he knew it, she was doubled over laughing.

"What is so entertaining about that?"

"You're such a fool," she said, calming down again. "I don't know where you've gotten your information that I've done what I've wanted, but you're sorely mistaken. I know you've offered me a quiet life before, but being your mate? I have told you before my thoughts on the subject, and still you ask? You are such a fool, Hiei. If this is all you will be badgering me with for the rest of our lives instead of leaving me to my wishes, then get out of my sight."

"Mukuro, I thought—"

"You thought wrong. Being tied down for the rest of my life, needing to eventually fulfill the role of mother to your offspring? I will have nothing to do with it."

Hiei shook his head to clear it, growling more to himself than anyone else. Then he thought to Sha's words, before she had left. To come vent if he'd like. "She'd better be prepared then for triggering my temper." He ran as fast as he could back into the house, stopping only to open her door with a lot of force. "Who do you think you—" he cut himself off. Instead of yelling like he was planning to, he was met by total silence. There she stood, butt naked and about to change into night clothes, staring back at him, thrown off balance. The two demons stared unmoving for a few seconds, before she regained her composure first.

"You son of a bitch!" She glowed red in the face and chucked her hair brush at him. "It's called knocking!"

He dodged the wayward brush and caught a glimpse of her ducking behind the bed. "It's called not getting completely naked to change!" Hiei yelled back, though knowing he was wrong in this one. "I don't even know why I came in here. I'll leave you to your nudity." He left, slamming the door behind him.

"Hiei…"

He looked down the hallway to see Kurama looking at him quizzically. "What?"

"I know you're agitated, but it's no reason to take it out on my cousin."

Hiei shrugged. "She said if I needed to vent to come see her. So I vented."

"And got quite a show I bet," Hyouga said as she passed by, munching on a bag of chips.

He felt his face starting to burn. "I saw nothing."

"I call bull on that one."

"Think what you wish. I'm going to bed." With that, he turned on his heel and entered his bedroom next door.

Hyouga paused with her next chip by her face. "The hell was that about? I just came by because I heard yelling."

Before Kurama could answer, Sha's door slid open and she rushed out in a hastily closed robe. "Where did he go? I want to apologize."

They each pointed to the door next to hers.

"Thanks."

"And this is where we take our leave," Kurama said, leading Hyouga away.

Sha fixed her robe and rapped lightly on the door. "Hiei, are you there? I wanted to say sorry for yelling at you." Silence met her ears. "Are you even listening?"

"…You're… sorry?"

"Yes I'm sorry you twit, didn't you hear me the first time?" The door in front of her slid open and she faced him closer than before. "There, now was that so hard?"

"Look, Sha, I'm the one who should be sorry. I barged in on your own personal business, I had no right to— Wait, did you just call me a twit?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you're just catching on to that? Look, about the door thing, it's all right. I told you to come vent at probably the worst time, and didn't think you'd actually come. To tell the truth, you just seem to be one of those quiet guys that keeps to themselves mostly." She looked down at his arm where she had slashed him with her talons and bit her lip. "I'm sorry for attacking you too. I just have a problem trusting people… comes with the line of history."

He lifted the arm up and glanced at it. "It's not deep. Very good move though."

She smiled as they entered into an uncomfortable silence.

"So was that it?"

"Well no. I just wanted to know if you still wanted to yell or stamp around, or whatever it is you do to get things off your chest."

"Trust me, I couldn't even begin to tell you what needs to be told. It's better to keep it to myself. Especially not to someone I just met."

He expected her to look hurt. Instead, she gave a slightly challenging smile. "Oh I see. You're just someone who's afraid to let anyone close."

"Excuse me?"

"I've seen it before." She laced her hands behind her back. "You're a big macho man, who thinks showing any sign of emotion other than anger is a sign of weakness." She laughed. "That is a little sad, actually."

He glared at her. "There's no need to tell what doesn't need to be told. Especially, as I said, to someone I just met. Who just tried to rip my arm off, no less."

She shrugged. "Suit yourself. But last I checked, it wasn't me barging in here and catching you naked. I think you owe me."

Caught off-guard a bit by the statement, he arched a brow. "What, you want me to toss off my pants so you can get a good look?"

"Tempting, but no. I think for making me embarrassed to hell you owe me at least one story."

"To be honest I'd rather take the pants off, but if you insist…" He moved away from the door. "It'll be a little easier in here."

"Sure. It's getting kinda awkward standing in the hallway anyway." She took a few steps forward and gapped at how big the room actually was. Then again, it was built in more modern Japanese style. Nearly all around it was full length windows, and on the left hand side was the doorway to the bathroom, where she could see the dull red light of the sky shining through the other windows. "Nice view."

"I came here enough the past year, so Salem gave me this room. The majority of my things are here already."

"You have to wonder who his family was to get this marvelous house," she said as she sat on his bed. Like hers, it was raised on a black box, but it was a king size instead of her twin size.

"A very old demon family from the Meiji era from Japan. This house was originally traditional style, but when it was passed down to him, he started renovations to convert it to modern." He sat next to her. "I take it you like the modern style."

"Oh I love it. Traditional is so bland. No great views when you have to opportunity to have them. Too little decoration. Inconvenient pluming."

He gave a light laugh at her last comment.

"There, see, a laugh. You are capable of it. I was starting to think you were a total grouch."

"That's just who I am. Only one person has had the chance so far to see that I'm not all the time… technically two, if you count now. So feel lucky."

She looked at him, as if studying his expression. "No one can hate everything. There has to be some sort of happiness in your heart."

"There's not. There's no need for happiness when you don't have a source of it." It was then he saw the hurt look he had expected earlier. He continued on, pretending he didn't see it. "Not much to laugh about when you're constantly arguing. The fights were fun at first, yeah. They were physical and I had a challenge. Then she started challenging me mentally. Day in and day out it was snide remark after another."

"How could you love such a woman, and I use that term lightly?"

"I thought she was all I could get. The only one who could match my fighting stamina. That's what started it, you know? Then she changed."

Sha shrugged. "Well everyone changes over time. They try winning someone over, then gradually lets their true colors show. Maybe it was a good thing she denied your request." Noting the glare in his eyes beginning, she added, "I mean maybe it was a good thing she denied you in general, not how she did it. How she did it was awful. It's better to have loved and lost, you know?"

"That saying sucks," he said harshly.

She winced. "I know. But I'm glad I did once. It just takes time to realize it. It leaves you open to love again. With time."

"You said your mate died. How old were you?"

"Fifty, around there, pretty young. I'm two hundred and thirty now."

"You guys were still just young. There's nothing foolish about that. There's something about being in love with an enemy that's even more foolish. I was tired of sleeping with one eye open, afraid she'd kill me in my sleep, but at the same time hoping that she'd try."

"Would you ever attempt to kill her?"

"No, just fun fights."

She sighed. "You men are so strange. Demon men anyway."

He furrowed his brow. "How so?"

"Violence turns you on. My mate was the same way."

"It's a sign of who holds dominance. Whoever holds the more power is whose dominant. She always challenged me for dominance. What kind of warrior would I be if I let her hold control of the leash?"

Sha wrinkled her nose. "Not much of one, I'll admit. The leash goes to the male, that's just how it goes."

He nodded. "Exactly. Not that I don't have respect for women either, it's just that's nature."

"No I know where you're coming from." She glanced at the clock on his bed stand. "Oh wow, already that late? I'd better get some sleep."

He stopped her as she got up. "Thank you, for talking to me. I feel a lot better actually."

She gave him a warm smile. "Knock on my door next time and I'll be happy to talk to you again." She leaned in to kiss his cheek in a friendly gesture, but he accidentally moved at the last moment, catching her lips with his.

He was floored by the tenderness of the action, even as accidental as it was. He had never had a tender kiss, only rough and animalistic while he was also fighting to keep his genitalia attached.

Sha pulled away all too soon. "Oh I'm sorry, that really didn't come out like I meant to. I'll just go now and sit in my room and wonder why I'm so—"

Hiei didn't let her finish as he pulled her down onto him again. What was with him? Mukuro had kicked him out just this morning, and he was already kissing another woman? As strange as it seemed, he couldn't help it. Sinfully delicious and soft lips, so unlike the rough ones full of fangs and blood. Unlike her, who he had to steal just the smallest pecks from, this half bred woman was gradually warming up to what he was doing. Not even just that, he could feel her tongue pressing against his lips, causing him to shift them open, making him groan at the strong waves of pleasure coursing through his body. All of this and he didn't even have to fight for it.

What seemed like too soon, she pulled away again. She didn't say anything, but just stared.

"Is something wrong?"

"It's nothing," she said quickly. "Though, are you sure about this? It's so soon."

He looked away. "Sorry this was my fault."

"No, I'm not saying it was a mistake. At least, I don't think it was… I mean at first it was on my end, but then it started feeling… well, right."

"I'm not used to kindness, you'll have to forgive me. It brought out more than I thought it would." He turned back to look at the clock. "You were right though, it is late. Thank you again for listening."

She waited for him to say more, or to even look at her. No such thing happened. Feeling slightly used, she left in silence.

He leaned over and grabbed onto fistfuls of his hair. What was wrong with him? He glanced at the wound she had inflicted earlier as it kept healing. Not even twenty four hours had passed and he was already moving on. What startled him the most was that he didn't feel the least bit remorseful that he was taking this path. He gnashed his teeth together as a lingering wave washed over him again. "It's nothing. You're just confused and overly horny," he tried convincing himself, but to no avail. He thought back to her, and realized how appealing she had been. Instead of being at his throat, she listened. Instead of smelling of sweat and power, she smelled of roses and lavender. Instead of holding a look of scorn, she held one of kindness.

With a snarl he yanked off his boots and flung the sheets over him as he lay with a huff. _Nonsense._


	5. Beachside

5.

Sha had a bit of trouble getting to sleep, eventually slipping into a dream she hadn't had in a long time. In it, she and Hyouga from the past had just barged into an innocent bar, weapons at the ready.

"All right maggots!" Hyouga shouted, malice in her eyes. "This is very simple, you give us what we want, and we may or may not kill you." A grin stuck itself onto her face.

A male stepped forward, pulling out a gun. "Who do you—"

He didn't even have a chance to finish before Shakaku's sword was through his head, hanging him to the wall. "Would anyone else like to speak out of turn?" She wiped the blood spray from her face.

One by one the innocents handed over their valuables, backing up slowly with their arms raised. At the last one, Hyouga glanced over to Sha, who had been absentmindedly cleaning her sword. "What's the verdict?"

"What is it always, my half-dog friend?"She held her hand in a fist, thumb extended neutrally like an emperor. Without a grimace, she pointed the thumb downward.

Over the next few minutes, the pub was filled with the sounds of screams and the smell of endless streams of blood.

"Sixteen," Sha said nonchalantly, rubbing the eye of her last victim in sheer boredom before piercing it with her thumbnail.

"Aw you beat me again," Hyouga said, now slicing down her last kill's belly. "I only got twelve." The sick sound of organs splattering to the floor had no effect on them.

"Do you ever get the feeling we're getting too old for these childish raids?" She flicked a piece of flesh off her heeled boot.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean senseless killing isn't fun anymore. Now that I've done what I've been hunting for, I'm just… tired. Tired of running from the SDF. Tired of hiding, living under a pseudonym. What do we really get from this?"

"A few riches every raid," Hyouga said in confusion. "That's how it's always been."

"And a high dry cleaning bill and having to move around constantly. Aren't you tired of this carnage?" She motioned around them to the blood and organ strewn floor.

"But we've had this gig for so long, Sha. Do you really want to give that up now that that one man is dead?"

"Yes. If you want to keep killing, so be it. I'm done. Find me when you are tired as well." She turned on her heel, squishing a random heart as she left.

She jumped awake, back to reality. "A memory," she mumbled, flipping herself over in a huff, seeing it was still night time. "A worthless memory of a carnal past I want nothing to do with." Closing her black eyes, she forced herself back into the land of Hypnos. When finally in a deep sleep, she found herself confronted with a dream she had never had before. She was still on her bed, but blind, and given the cool air she felt all around her, she had nothing on. Strangely, she felt no embarrassment at the given situation. Even when a pair of hands lightly grabbed hold of her throat in a teasing choke-hold, she was not afraid. As if she knew who the hands belonged to, despite the lack of knowledge on who she would allow this close to her body. The feeling was now moving downward in feather-light movements, also planting kisses along the way.

"This doesn't feel like a dream," she heard herself say.

No response met her ears, only more soft and enticing feelings from the unknown person the hands belonged to. It was definitely a male; she could feel his erection plainly across her leg, meaning he was just as naked as she was. All thoughts left her though when one of the hands met her core and set her whole body ablaze. Her cries of passion became louder and louder, until she could bear it no more.

"That's it, my love, come for me," she heard before she woke with a start.

This time as she woke, the demonic sun was starting to rise, setting a lighter red color to the horizon from the opposite side of the house. She knew that voice somewhere. But where? Grumbling, she made herself rise and stretch, letting her tail stiffen and fall back to a relaxed state. It was then she noticed the moist spot between her legs. Cursing she moved off the bed to change into her day clothes, but noticed the beautiful view her window gave her of the shoreline. Deciding a morning dip wouldn't hurt, she summoned in her traveling trunk, and sifted through for her suit.

* * *

About a half hour later, Hiei also arose from a strange dream. He hadn't been able to see the face of the one pleasing him, but she was full of comfort with her actions, full of love. It was an alien feeling to him awake, but in that dream, it seemed… well right. In his dream he hadn't questioned the woman's presence, or who she was, but he seemed comfortable, like he knew somehow who the woman was exactly. She spoke at the end, before he had awakened, but he couldn't pinpoint the voice. Shrugging it off, he got out of bed and slipped his pants on before standing in front of the window walls, taking in the early morning glow. Kurama and Yusuke would already be gone by now, seeking an appointment with Enki. Salem, knowing him, would still be out cold for another few hours. The girls he had no idea about, and wasn't really interested in getting to know the majority of them. Hell, they just plain irritated him. Sukuna came off as too whiney, and Kitsu too headstrong. Hyouga, while laid back, held something deep within her, he could sense that. And Shakaku… well he had gotten to know her quite well already. He couldn't lie and say she annoyed him. Glancing down at the shoreline, a small mass emerging out of the water caught his eye. "Speak of the devil and he will come…" he said, catching himself staring. It was Sha, who had just emerged from the water, glistening with the help of the early sun and pushing her red bangs out of her face. Her black hair shined like a raven's wing, and her body in that small suit was not hiding much. It was then he remembered her voice last night. The pitch of it that varied with her comfort. It matched the one in his dream almost…

He shook his head, clearing the thoughts that tried to burrow in his mind. What was wrong with him? He never held emotions of this kind before. Something from his dream haunted him, pushed him toward a new goal. He tried ignoring it, but his gaze was still drawn to the half dragon woman down on the shore, now lounging out on the rock he saw her on last night.

_I have told you before my thoughts on the subject, and still you persist? You are such a fool, Hiei. If this is all you will be badgering me with for the rest of our lives instead of striving towards our main goal, then get out of my sight._

_Mukuro, I thought__—_

_You thought wrong. Being tied down for the rest of my life, needing to eventually fulfill the role of mother to your offspring? I will have nothing to do with it._

He gritted his teeth and leaned his forehead against the cool glass. "What a fool I've become over these past few years."

_You're not alone though. I'm tired of the bullshit life throws at me as well. Maybe we do have more in common than I first thought._

Deciding to settle his mind, he teleported to the woods just before the shore. "You're awake fairly early."

Sha jumped nearly out of her skin and gave a small squeak of fear. It was almost… "Don't do that!" she yelled, dragging him out of his new thoughts.

"I couldn't resist the temptation."

"Well what about you, you're up early as well," she pointed out.

"Fair point. I just had a strange dream that I couldn't fall back asleep because of."

"So did I, funnily enough." A thoughtful look crossed her face. "It was strange. It was first a memory of when I stopped my mass murders and split with Hyouga for a bit. Then I woke and fell back asleep to something completely different. Being… pleased by a random person while being completely blind."

A jolt passed through him. She had had a similar dream?

"I just can't place the voice at the end though. It's so familiar, but in an octave I've never heard before." Sha gazed out into the expanse of the sea. "It seemed and felt so real. Unlike any other dream I've ever had."

"What did the voice say?"

She laughed. "It's too embarrassing."

"You were able to tell me what it was about, I think you could tell me what this man said."

"All right fine. He said 'That's it, my love, come for me', and I woke." Her cheeks flushed a pale crimson. "So go on, make fun of me for my foolish sex dreams."

"It's not foolish." He climbed up onto the rock and joined her in viewing the sea. "I had something similar, though of course a woman in place of your man. She also said something different, but I can take a guess who the voice belonged to."

"Your ex?" Sha questioned, choosing not to look at him.

Hiei snorted. "She would never say words as soft as were murmured in the dream, and her voice was never as equally soft. It was always harsh."

"Well then who?"

"Look who's being nosy now."

Her jaw dropped. _"Nosy_? You asked me what the guy said, and you tell me nothing? And _I'm_ the nosy one?"

He stood. "I'll tell you. If, of course, you can catch me." With that he vanished.

She immediately leapt at the challenge. "You're on, you prick!" Her eyes glowed as she scanned the surrounding area with her dragon's sight, picking up on any movement at all. It didn't take long before she locked in on him and leapt in to catch him, a, "gotcha!" escaping from her lips. But all her arms locked around was air.

"You're good, but try again. Or I get to keep my secret."

She concentrated again, though this time he was moving instead of staying stationary. She had to time his movements just right, or she'd just miss him. With one leap of faith, she lunged, narrowly catching him about the waist and sending him back into the soft sand. She straddled his waist and pinned his arms above his head, emitting a laugh of triumph. "Now tell me!"

A wolf whistle from the woods perked both their attentions over. "Well if I'd have known we'd be getting a return show, I would've sold tickets," Yusuke grinned, while Kurama just smiled behind his hand.

It was then that the two half fire demons realized their situations and Sha leapt off, standing a good foot away. "Nothing happened," they both said at the same time.

"Well let's see. Hiei, you're half naked, Sha here is in a bathing suit. We come across you pinned to the ground, oh no, nothing happened. Sure." His grin, if possible, grew wider.

"Yusuke, stop harassing them," Kurama said, though barely containing his laughter. "Come back up to the house you two, we have some information you'd find interesting."

Curiosity struck, Sha stood and grabbed her towel from the rock as the two former detectives went back up to the house, leaving Hiei to think on the sand, staring out at the sea. _Maybe it's not so messed up as it was…_

"Are you coming?"

He turned to see she had put the fabric around her waist and under her slowly swaying tail, giving him a decent view up top. "Yeah. I'll be there in a minute."

She seemed to study him for a second before turning around herself and heading back to Salem's domicile.

_Now if only I can make up for last night… Then again, what do I care if it falls through?_ With a sigh at his wavering walls, he rose from the sand to join the others in the news.


	6. News

6.

"So what were you able to find out Yoko?" Sha asked as the other girls and Salem filed into the large living room.

"Please, use Kurama. I've gotten so used to it now."

"Sure. I'll remember that."

"Well, we weren't able to find out much, unfortunately."

Sukuna rolled her eyes and fell back against the couch, growling in frustration. "Go fucking figure. King of the demons doesn't even know what's going on in his own land."

Yusuke shot her a sharp look, which silenced her once more.

"He wasn't aware of any of this," Kurama continued on, "that's true, but he's been kept busy lately."

This made Hyouga focus more. "Sure he's always been keeping busy, what with having those schools for the kids built and things like that, but he's always been on top of the ball with things here. Is someone purposely distracting him?"

"Seems like it," Yusuke said, crossing his arms and looking a bit sour. "Since the disappearances have been in such a small part of the world, he wasn't notified right away. Not with all the construction going on in the cities."

"He's advised for us to lay low for awhile," Kurama picked up. "He's sending his own men to investigate the area."

"Hey wait!" Hyouga interjected. "But that's _our_ case and _our_ bounty!"

"We'll get to close the case," he assured her. "You collect your pay, and we retain our sound minds. Well," he looked at Yusuke, "most of us."

"And what do you mean by that?" the ex detective sneered. "My mind is perfectly fine as it is!" Hiei let out a snort, making Yusuke wheel around on him. "Oh stuff it!"

"How will we know when we can mobilize the next stage of our offense?" Sha asked, breaking up the fight before it started.

"We gave him the contact number for this house. Until then, we're to stay here." He looked to Salem. "Enki's orders."

The shadow elemental merely shrugged. "Plenty of room to spare. Any idea how long it will take?"

"It shouldn't take more than a day or so to mobilize enough investigators for the area. Another few to scout the area. We can move out in possibly at least four days."

Kitsu nodded. "But I'm lost on something."

"What of?"

"We were hired by Mukuro." She didn't see the slight change in facial expressions Hiei gave, but Sha did. She merely narrowed her eyes as the vixen continued on unaware. "She knew something was wrong. She had stakeouts of the area done. How could Enki not know?"

"She never told him," Hiei said, causing them to all look at him sitting on one of the barstools.

"You knew she never handed in a report of her findings?" Yusuke asked. He was about to ask how, when he remembered exactly where the demon had been the past two years. "Well why?"

"She never told me why. Guess she wanted to finish it herself and keep it hushed. It was her discovery, her shot at power, as minor as it would be." He grinned a bit. "But it obviously backfired, if she had to hire these four to pick up where she left off." Though he instantly regretted saying it like that. _Way to go, idiot._

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Hyouga asked hotly.

"Don't mind him," Kurama said. "Look, until we get the all clear, let's just _try _to get along, like civilized demons."

"Guess it's about time I get changed then," Sha said, looking down at her near-dry suit. "Thanks for the info, Kurama."

The fox nodded as she left down the hallway that had her room. The rest of them also left to do their own thing, leaving Kurama and Hiei alone in the living room. "What was that last statement of yours about?"

"It slipped. Old habits."

Kurama gave a smug smile. "Your old habits have been dying hard the past two years, my friend. You don't snap like you used to, and you're not as pompous."

Hiei rolled his eyes but joined Kurama in the square made by the couch, love seat, and two chairs. "I've told you I've been getting sick of it all lately." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Where is it getting me? Being aggressive towards everything doesn't help."

"Ah, but if you let your guard down too much, you end up with my cousin on top of you."

"Exact— what, no!"

The smug grin returned. "Looks like she's interested in you enough. Why not take the opportunity?"

He shook his head. "I ruined it enough last night."

"What could you have possibly done to make you regret last night?"

"I never said I regretted what we did." At the fox's look of surprise he said, "We didn't have sex. She accidentally kissed me, and I took it too far. She didn't seem to mind, but asked if I was sure. I backed off then, but you should've seen the look she gave me when she left."

"It's really getting to you, isn't it?"

"More than it should." He got up, heading to the front door.

"What will you do?"

"Slap myself a few times, take a few cold showers. Nothing else I can do."

"Why not try again?"

Hiei arched a brow at his friend. "Why are you pushing the issue?"

Kurama smiled. "I just want to see you happy. That'd finish the puzzle you've been putting together for the past few years."

"Maybe…" Without another word he left, heading back out to the ocean.


	7. Books

7.

When Sha changed into a flowy skirt and a tank top, she slipped on her sandals and grabbed a book she had been struggling to get through. While she could speak English well now, she still had trouble reading a few words every now and again. She snuck out the back and went down to the shoreline again. Instead of sitting out in the sand and the sun though, she settled beneath a tree on the grass right at the edge of the woods. Tucking her hair behind her ears, she plucked out her bookmark and resumed the spot she left off last time.

Unbeknownst to her, a certain demon had been napping in the branches above her. Hiei started awake as he felt another presence nearby. He looked down a few branches, only a few feet really, and was met with a very nice view of cleavage peeking out from a black shirt. "Funny how we keep bumping into each other."

She jumped slightly, but didn't look up at him. "Fancy that."

When she said nothing else, he leapt down and landed beside her, feeling her flinch a bit. "I know you don't like me right now."

"What gave you that impression?" She stayed focused on her book.

"Besides the fact you're rereading the same words over and over, you flinched when I sat down."

"To your first point, English isn't my first language. Nor my second. I still have some troubles with a few words. Takes me a bit to get it."

He looked over at what she was reading, and was surprised to see a trashy romance scene. "Didn't peg you as the romantic-type."

"No, you pegged me as a one-night-stand-type." She snapped her paperback closed and attempted to get to her feet, but he held her back. "Let go."

"Not until you listen."

She bared her fangs. "Listen to what? There's nothing to explain." She wrenched out of his grip and got up.

He growled and stood with her, pinning her form to the tree with one hand holding both her wrists over her head. "There is, and I'll let go if you listen." He felt her preparing for a kick to his crotch, but he held her leg fast between his own. "Agreed?"

She curled her lip, but nodded all the same.

"Last night was a mistake, I admit that. But, at the same time, it wasn't. Do you understand what I mean?"

Her gaze grew less venomous. "You could mean a lot of things."

"How did you trick me into talking? I don't even talk like that to the people who've known me for years."

"You got yourself into it when you walked in on me naked."

"Ah, yeah that would do it. Not a bad sight, actually."

She balked a bit. "Excuse me?"

He continued on as if he hadn't said anything. "You broke down one of my weakened walls. Thing is, it's a bad time for me to be doing things like… kissing. Especially like that."

"I wasn't aware a friendly gesture was referred to as 'like that'." She quirked a brow, amusement breaking through her once solid façade of anger.

"Not the friendly peck part."

"Then what one? All I initiated was the peck."

He opened his mouth to retort, but he couldn't.

She grinned. "See, that wasn't me, and you can't lay any blame on me at all. Do you see why I left upset now?"

"As I said then, I'm not used to kindness."

"I can see that." She nodded up where his hand was still keeping her wrists hostage. "Is this how you pick up all your girls, or am I a special case?"

"I didn't want you hitting me." He nodded down to where he kept her leg hostage too. "Or kicking me."

"Now what part of last night wasn't supposed to happen? I'm drawing a blank."

A ghost of a smile appeared on his face. She was challenging him, but not in such an aggressive way as he was used to. Instead of challenging him for complete control of a whole "relationship", she was challenging him to be a man in their current situation. With her a few inches shorter than him, he had to bend his neck a bit, something else he wasn't used to, and hovered right in front of her lips with his own. "It was about here it started," he said softer than he ever had talked to anyone before.

"But that's not it, is it?"

He leaned in the rest of the way with a bit of force backing his kiss, making her arch back against the tree he had her pinned to. His head began to float again as it had that night. He gave it a bit more, when he felt her tongue on his lips, to pull himself away. "And here's where it ended…"

"Now my memory is coming back. Are you sure this wasn't supposed to happen?"

He was still on a sort of high when he answered, "Not in the slightest." He started the kiss up again, feeling her book fall past them as her hand finally released its hold on the bindings. He felt his pants becoming a few sizes too small, making him a little dizzier. _Why is she not struggling to get away? Was Kurama right?_

Just as he was about to let his free hand wander, a set of laughter made them both quickly jump and push each other apart, just as teenagers would when almost caught in the moment. Kitsu and Sukuna walked past them in bathing suits, heading to the shoreline, laughing at something Sukuna was saying.

"—but that was just the start! Then this dwarf says 'did you know that it's a dwarven custom to grasp a woman's breasts as a hello?', and he was dead serious!"

"You didn't actually let the bastard—"

"Oh hell no. I punted that guy about two feet away. Would've been more, but they're so bulky."

They continued on, completely unaware of the two demons hiding behind the tree, calming down their shot nerves.

"I, ah, better get back up to the house," Sha said once the girls were out of earshot. "I haven't, um, cleaned my sword in awhile. I-it could use a bit of a touch up." She walked nervously backwards on the trail to the house. "I'll, uh, see you later, I suppose." Her cheeks matched her bangs as she turned around, her hand to her bent forehead in an embarrassed nature.

He watched her as she continued on, slightly smiling as she lost her balance and he heard her curse at her "weak ankles". He shook his head and looked at the ground, seeing her fallen romance novel. _What the hell are you even doing? This isn't you. … Then again, who am I anymore? Senseless killing and violence sickens me now, and I have all the power I've ever wanted. I found Yukina, found the Ice Village, found the already walking dead apparitions… Maybe Salem was right. Maybe it is time to… settle down. That's the only thing missing._ He mentally slapped himself. _Yeah, right. Like that'll ever happen._ Regardless, he bent down and picked up the book, reading "Fantasy Lover" as the title. Her bookmark lay in the back pages, showing she hadn't replaced it where she was originally reading. Now entirely curious, he leapt up onto the branch he had been earlier, and opened to the first page.


	8. Trust and Discovery

8.

Sha stood beside her bed, brushing the tangles out of her freshly washed hair. "Fucking— Sonofa— FRIGGING KNOTS!" With a tug, she got the last of the rat's nest out of her hair and tossed her brush into her open trunk. A soft knock on her doorframe made her jump, but she automatically said, "Come in."

She was surprised to see Hiei there, a hand shielding his eyes. "You're dressed this time, right? I don't want to have to owe you anything else."

A laugh escaped from her lips. "Of course I am. I wouldn't have allowed you or anyone to come in if I wasn't decent to begin with."

"Good." He slid the door closed behind him and handed her the book. "You left this outside earlier."

"I was wondering what happened to it." She frowned. "Why didn't you give it back sooner?"

"A few reasons." As he sat on the edge of her bed, he couldn't help but notice that her sleepwear consisted of an oversized shirt and no pants or shorts. He pretended he hadn't even taken it in. "It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be."

Her jaw dropped slightly. "You _read_ this entire thing? In just a few hours? … You actually read this?"

"Yeah. What's surprising about it?"

"Well, that's impressive reading speed, for one. Two, I wouldn't peg you for the romantic-type."

He couldn't help but pick up on that. "No, I bet you would have pegged me as the asshole-type."

She tried to retort, but ended up falling silent.

"And now you see what happens when you jump to conclusions."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I wasn't the one who carried on that kiss. I didn't make it into what it turned into."

"You didn't stop it either."

He saw it coming, as she moved quickly and pushed him onto his back. He just chose to not stop her at all, even when she pinned him down with his wrists over his head, just as she had done on the beach that morning. "I wasn't the one who barged in on you naked," she said, making her fangs more noticeable. To anyone else, the sight would range from mildly startled to ruined pants, but to him, he found it amusing. "I didn't pull you down onto me and start kissing you blind."

He gave a smug grin. "Oh, so I made you go blind, huh?"

"The point is I wasn't the one to jump anything!"

Hiei rolled his eyes, having had quite enough of her stubbornness. He shocked her by easily flipping her over, switching their positions so he was the one doing the pinning. "I admit last night was my fault, but you were the one to assume I was going to use your body."

"That's how it always is," she said hotly, and he suppressed the urge to widen his eyes in surprise. "If I could convince someone I wasn't who I used to be, I'd have them pressuring me to come to their beds. Nothing more."

He felt an unexpected twinge of jealousy, but quickly brushed it off. "If I were like that I'd be raping you now." He nodded down at her hips, where her shirt had twisted up to around her waist and her panties were on full display. "You're pinned and in no position to throw me off. You're helpless." He saw her expression falter. "If I were anyone else, I'd probably be taking full advantage of this situation, but I'm not." Gently, he let go of her wrists and sat back on his ankles, allowing her to sit up and properly pull down the shirt. "Now will you just calm down and trust me, dammit? I'm not planning on doing something idiotic like that, so put it out of your mind."

She nodded down to his pants. "So then what exactly am I seeing there? You hiding a banana in there, or are you just happy to see me?"

He shifted a bit, getting slightly uncomfortable. "I can't control that. Blame the male instincts for that." He tapped his head. "But my mentality is intact. I may not be able to control things below the waist, but I can control the actions to use it properly."

She eyed him warily before pulling her legs under her and sitting a bit more comfortably. "You swear?"

"I'm not the type to break promises. I won't do anything you don't want me to."

Seeming satisfied with the answer, she relaxed completely. "So what did you think of the book? I've read it a few times, and it just doesn't get old."

"It was interesting. Now I can say I've finally read a romance. The sex scenes weren't overdone either. Just the right amount of detail." He couldn't help but notice her blush. "Think about it too, being chained up by links made by Hephaestus himself, that would be ultimate bondage."

"Luckily they had a key for those chains."

"It just seemed a bit too unrealistic, to be summoned by the one single person that can free him."

She arched a brow. "That whole thing is unrealistic. A captured Greek sex slave that is bound to the one who summons him for a whole month. A _naked_ captured Greek sex slave."

"You just had to put emphasis on naked. You enjoyed picturing the guy's penis, didn't you?"

She flushed completely. "W-what, o-of course not!"

"Don't deny it." He poked at her side in a teasing way, but found out quite fast she was in fact very ticklish.

"Knock it off you idiot!" she struggled out as he kept poking her, making her laugh uncontrollably. She finally pushed him off, sending him off the side of the bed, making her laugh even harder. "Oh hell— are you ok?" she managed in between laughs.

He knelt on the floor and rested his arms on the bed. "Never better."

As she calmed down, she finally took in the tattoo she had barely noticed before. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Is what?"

"The Dragon of the Darkness Flame. You were actually able to tame it?"

He glanced at the arm stretched out before him. Since a few more years had passed, the dragon had grown more dormant. There wasn't much point in keeping it wrapped up anymore, so he kept his arm bare most of the time. "Somehow, yeah. I guess I have a way with dragons."

She smiled. "I think you do." It was then she noticed a white scar encircling his left arm. "What's that one from? It looks like it was from a cut that went clean through your arm."

His brightened expression dimmed a bit. "It's… It's not something I want to talk about."

She nodded in understanding. "Some scars never do fade. They just get easier to deal with over time." She glanced up at the clock on her wall ticking away. "Speaking of time, it's getting late. Should get some sleep."

"I suppose so." He stood up once more while she attempted to meet his height by leaning up on her knees on the mattress. "I'll see you in the morning then."

She bit her lip for a second, taking hold of his arm. "Um, before you go…" She surprised him for the countless time that night by pulling him to her height and kissing him with a bit of force. Not that he had any complaints about the situation.

They pulled apart with their heads swimming. "Good night," he said slowly.

"_Nui, nex-ahn_." She shook her head. "Um, sorry, wrong language. Meant to say 'yeah, good night'. Kinda came out a bit wrong. I mean right, but wrong word— oh you know what I mean."

_It's kinda cute, seeing her stumble._ "I do." With a last nod, he left her room, hearing her give off a loud sigh. _What has gotten into you?_ He whacked his forehead a few times to try and clear the fog. _What do I really want right now?_

Unable to answer without shocking himself with the results, he went to the next doorway to head to sleep as well. Though he doubted it would be a dry sleep.


	9. Bets

9.

While he had calmed down considerably over the past two years, Hiei couldn't help but feel caged in with their predicament. Sure he really had no other place to go since he was still technically working, but he still hated being told where to be and when.

So instead, he did what he normally never did. Slept in.

By the time he woke up, he found that three of four of the girls, Hyouga, Kitsu, and Sukuna, had traveled together back to their apartments to pick up some entertainment. What sort of entertainment he didn't know, and really didn't care to find out. He saw Salem had also chosen to escort them. For… safety reasons, he had told Kurama. Hiei scoffed a bit when he thought back to how he was cozying up pretty fast to the half ice woman in the group.

Regardless, he found Yusuke and Kurama in the semi-spacious kitchen, both doing their own thing. Kurama was reading the paper, and Yusuke was watching some wrestling show on the TV hooked up to a stand on the far wall.

"Pin him! C'mon pin— oh for crying out loud that was a golden opportunity! Damn rigged matches." Yusuke took a big swig out of a brown-tinted bottle before almost spitting it out again. "The fuck was that!"

Hiei rolled his eyes and decided to see what Salem had stored away for such emergencies.

"You slept in fairly late," Kurama stated, flipping a page to continue reading an article.

"Nothing better to do."

"Oh, by the way," Yusuke said, not looking away from the TV in front of him, "what was all that yelling about in Sha's room last night?"

Hiei inadvertently hid his face with the refrigerator door. "What do you mean?"

"Oh you know what I mean." He gave his trademark "I-know-something" grin. "I saw you duck in there last night. Think you're so sneaky."

The fire demon growled under his breath and gave up his search on something to eat. "I can be when I want to, you know that, Detective." Against his better judgment, he sat next to Kurama at the table, across from Yusuke.

Yusuke finally looked at him as the match faded to a commercial. "Yeah, when you want to be. All I made out from the yelling was something about going blind."

"It's not any of your business."

Kurama merely continued reading the paper, though he held it up to hide his own smirk.

"I hear you, it's embarrassing," Yusuke said, only to smile at the death glare he received. "So what happened at Mukuro's that has you chasing tail again?" The ex-detective wasn't expecting that nasty of a look he received. He held up his hands in surrender. "Whoa, sorry. Sensitive topic I guess."

"I should gut you where you stand." To be honest, he wasn't sure what had made him so angry with what Yusuke had just said. Bringing up Mukuro, or referring to Sha as "a piece of tail".

Yusuke bit back a sarcastic comment of him sitting instead of standing. "Didn't realize something had happened, man. Sorry."

Hiei put a hand to his forehead. "You've kept in contact with me the past two years. You've taken notice on how much has changed."

He nodded. "Yeah, everyone's changed. Kuwabara's in a great college, Kurama's living on his own in Human World. I've stopped picking fights with everyone."

"You're also engaged now."

"That too. I always fought for her well-being, but I won't seek out danger anymore. I'm too old for that crap now."

Hiei grinned. "You're only twenty. Live as long as I have and you can say that."

"Yeah. You've changed the most out of us. Really. You've calmed down so much, it's amazing."

"Because of that, she sent me away."

"Sent you— oh that bitch! Just because you wanted a quiet life?" He saw his friend nod slightly. "Jeez, she needs to settle her ass down. In a few ways. Man, and you never even got to… you know…" He did a grabbing motion with his hands.

"She'd toss me off."

"What!" Yusuke's wrestling match was far from his mind by now. "You never got to do anything fun like that at all?"

Kurama got up wordlessly and started searching through the cabinets for something. The other two took no notice.

"Not at all."

Yusuke let out a low whistle. "No wonder you're panting like a dog after this half dragon now."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh sure you do." The grin was back. He noticed Kurama preparing something while a basket sat on the counter next to him. _Nice idea, Fox-boy._ Catching on to his wordless plan, he decided to keep the conversation going. "She's decent looking. Kinda small in the chest area though, probably about a B-cup."

"Never liked large ones anyway." The words slipped out faster than he could stop them, and wanted to slap himself in the head for it.

"AHA! See!"

"That doesn't prove anything!"

"Yes it does! So, how good at kissing is she?"

"I will slit your throat."

"Meaning she's amazing at it."

"That's not—"

"What about that tail of hers?"

Hiei was about to get up to leave when Kurama put the basket in front of him. He had put a blanket over it, so the fire demon had no idea what was in it. "What's this about now?"

"She's out by the ocean again. I think she'd enjoy something to eat in a peaceful environment."

Hiei looked between Kurama and Yusuke, giving both a death glare. "You can both go to hell." Regardless, he took the basket and left out the back.

Yusuke started laughing hysterically. "See, what'd I tell you!"

"I can see it as well as you can. They're both just too stubborn to admit anything." He glanced at the piece of paper they had hidden between the small stack of newsprint. "But was a betting pool really necessary?"

"No, but it's fun."

Kurama thought for a minute, and then pulled out his wallet.

"Whoa, you're joining in?"

"As you said, it is fun." He put down a few bills. "I say four days."

Yusuke pulled out the betting sheet and put Kurama down.

"Though, you know he _will_ try to kill us if he finds that sheet."

"Which is why we hide it where he won't ever find it."


	10. Dancing

10.

He expected to see her lounging out on the rock, or reading, or in the ocean. So it made him stop in his tracks when he came across the sight laid out before him. She had found a small stereo from human world in Salem's home and supplied one of her own CDs it seemed. What the humans called electronic music flowed from the speakers in a pleasant rhythm. He set the basket down and leaned against the tree, taking in the new sight.

Sha moved through a series of forms with her sword. Since he wasn't rushed to answer questions or to think, he could finally see what type it was. She held the thin rapier with skill and experience, moving in time to the music. Instead of her normal all-black garb, she had on a loose fitting and slightly puffy white shirt under a black bodice, giving her a very pirate-ish appearance, especially with the tight-fitting black pants. The pants were tailored especially for her figure, since he knew having a tail limited a lot of what one could buy. Especially reptilian ones.

Hiei moved from the shade of the trees, snapping a twig as he went. She whirled around and pointed the sword at him with ease, but relaxed instantly. "I could have killed you, I hope you know."

"With that form, not likely. It's good, but could use some work in a few areas." He set the basket down next to the small stereo. "Kurama sent me down with food, just so you know."

"Where am I lacking?"

"In your parry and defensive stances. Attack is spot on."

She frowned. "I didn't have to really use defense in the past."

He pulled his sword from its scabbard. "I'll teach you."

"Hm, if you insist. Just give me a moment. Let me switch songs. I think I know of one that'll get us moving even better." She stuck the rapier in the sand next to the stereo and changed the track to one called "1,001 Arabian Nights" by 1200 Micrograms. A soft flute sound began to play, that was followed by the rest of the calming instruments. "There." Sha took her opening stance when she took a few steps away from the stereo. Her sword arm was kept raised over her head and she held the other in front of her, balancing her weight on one leg while the other stood on the ball of the foot.

He started slow, swinging in low, though she met him in a downward swing, blocking the blade. "Good. Now we side-step once…" She met his pace with ease. He did a downward slash followed by a right, which she blocked both times, the second making her spin around and catch it with her back to him. Once the swords bounced apart she completed the swing, meeting him again in a high swing that she ducked. She bent backwards out of the way of a navel-placed attack and cart-wheeled back.

"Am I still lacking?" She blocked another low swing and parried with a swing of her own, that he also blocked.

"Seems you just needed a sparring partner." He continued making her move in her graceful manner. "Where did you learn to move like that?"

"From dancing. Swordplay is just another dance." She nodded back to the stereo while parrying a swing aimed high. "Music like this helps."

He said nothing as he continued forcing her to move, though he had to admit, the music did help. A lot.

"I take it from your techniques you know how to dance as well."

"A bit."

She smirked as the CD that was set to repeat brought up a faster-paced song by the same artist. The first song "The Creation" began its introduction, so she decided to keep him talking until it finished. "Only a bit? The movements you're doing show you know quite a bit."

"I suppose, though it's only been with swords. Had no excuse to actually dance."

She listened for the last beat that sounded like a whip before switching their roles. She quickly went on the offensive, causing him to pick up his defensive pace.

Before he knew it, she had him moving more to the music, instead of to the sword positions. She was using them to teach him how to move and sway with both his body and limbs.

"Feel the beats, and switch the roles back."

She moved him for a few more seconds before he was able to switch it back so she was on the defensive. Sha only missed once, and the slipup caused his sword to nick at her leg. She hissed and fell to a knee. His stomach lurched forward for some odd reason. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. You didn't get me deep. Don't worry about it." She forced herself back up and sheathed her rapier. A smile showed on her face. "See, you can dance."

"I had never tried to before."

"You'll get better at it." She lightly punched at his arm. "We'll break that shell of yours eventually."

Hiei watched her walk towards the basket, and he had a sudden urge to jump into the chilly ocean. Those tight pants really didn't leave much to the imagination. He shook his head. _I'm getting in way too deep… Question is, do I want to stop?_ She kneeled down by the basket, and he saw a small bit of black lace peek up around her hips. _Yeah, cold shower again tonight. Great._ _Then again, not like she wasn't wearing something similar last night._ He shook his head.

"Oh, nice, he put in some chocolate pudding. Good that he still knows my weaknesses." She stood back up and unfurled the blanket. "Think you can give me a hand with this?"

He didn't trust himself to speak just yet, so instead nodded and moved to help lay the blanket down on the sand. "What else did he put in there?"

"I'm not sure. Kinda just saw the pudding and stopped there." She blushed a bit. "I'm a sweets lover. And spice." She took the basket into her lap as she sat down on the blanket. "Hm, looks like a bit of tuna salad and crackers. And two sodas." She looked at him as he sat next to her. "Guess we're supposed to be sharing this?"

He put his face in his palm as he realized what was happening. "Those idiots are tag-teaming…"

"Pardon?"

"Kurama sent me down here with that basket after Yusuke was pestering me about the past day or so. Seems like they're trying to set us up."

She laughed and opened her soda. "Wouldn't be anything wrong in that."

His nerves flashed, making him mentally scold them. "In what? The fact they're trying?"

"Well, no. The whole… us… thing. If there is an 'us' in this." She flushed worse than before. "Though I'm just probably assuming a bit too much," she nervously laughed. "Considering what's happened to you, don't think you'd want to just jump into another… relationship so soon." She took a sip of her soda, her flush seeming brighter against the green of the can.

"Are you proposing something?"

"Nothing of the sort," she quickly said. "Just talking faster than I'm thinking is all. I do that sometimes when—ah forget it." Sha put some of the tuna onto a cracker. "Just saying, if they intend to succeed in their attempts, it wouldn't be a bad thing."

He cracked open his own soda. "I suppose not."

They picked at the food in silence for awhile, the only sound being their surroundings and the CD that continued to play. She chose to break it after their current song ended. "Thanks, by the way. For being my sparring partner."

The electric shock feeling went through his body again, and he once more mentally cursed at his body's reactions. Not many people ever thanked him for anything. Even rarer than that was he willing to help anyone without being bribed to do so. "You're welcome." Then again, he had gotten a bit of a payoff. He got to see her move in her pirate-like outfit. _… Yeah, long cold shower for me tonight._


	11. Dances and Parties

11.

Sha switched the CD when they had had enough of the food, and they practiced with one another again. Though this time, not with swords.

"Ouch!"

"Sorry."

"No, it's all right. But do it like this."

He was picking up dancing at a decent pace. Right now, she was leading him through the steps of a Latin-based dance. Though her toes were getting a bit sore at this point. "I'm not too good at this…"

"You're doing better each time. Everyone has a strength and weakness in everything." She knew what was next on her CD and chewed at her lower lip. "Though I don't know if you want to try the next one."

"What is it and I'll tell you if I do or not."

"It's… slow. But makes the two dancing be really close."

He arched a brow. "How close exactly?"

She felt butterflies in her stomach as the song changed to a love song that always made her think of the past. "Well, you put your hands here," she took his and put them on her hips, blushing a bit, "and… I put mine here." She hesitantly wrapped her arms around his neck.

He let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding in. "It is a bit close." He felt her try to pull away and he used his hold on her hips to keep her in place. "What do we do now? I doubt we stand here and stare."

"I-it's easy enough. We just basically shift our weight back and forth and slowly turn while doing so." To demonstrate, she began to move, and he followed suit. Luckily, with the small amount of moving, he didn't tread on her at all. "That's exactly it."

All the while, Hiei continued to have a mental conflict within himself. _This isn't who you are. What the hell are you doing?_

_It's… oddly comforting._

_You're clinging to false hope. _

_I'm chasing an opportunity I never had._

_She could never love a beast like you._

_She sees who I am beneath the harsh mask I wear._

_You will end up hurting her._

_Or I might end up in love with her…_

_You're already past that point, you blind fool. Can't you feel that?_

_I—_

He was pulled out of his silent argument by her head resting against his chest, a sad sigh escaping her nose. "Is something wrong?" he asked, afraid he hurt her in some way.

"Nothing that can be dealt with any more than I've tried." She frowned slightly. "That sounded better in my head." She continued moving with him, but looked up at him. "You understand what it's like, don't you? To have something from your past eat at you, no matter how many times you've sent it away."

He nodded, but didn't answer.

"It's stupid, but I think of him, my mate, even after more than two hundred years have passed. I… don't have anyone else to think of, when I hear this."

He wanted to comfort her in any way that he could, but didn't know what would work. He shifted his arms from her waist and put them around her in what would be probably the only embrace he had ever initiated. "It's not stupid to dwell on past loves. But, instead of recalling the fact he is gone, remember the happiest times you had." The song ended but neither wanted to move.

* * *

The setting sun made them pack the basket back up and return to the house. They weren't expecting to hear the amount of noise coming from the domicile as they did.

"What the hell…?" She opened the door first to see the starts of a party being thrown.

"There you are, Cobber!" a familiar Australian shouted over the music. "You and your Sheila come grab a drink and have fun!"

Sha laughed as she saw exactly what entertainment the four had gathered while they were out. Liquor of all sorts was out on the bar-like counter, and the girls were setting up a dance pad in the living room while their game loaded.

"Who else is here?" Hiei asked as Chu clapped him on the shoulder and handed him a bottle.

"Well we had to have a little reunion! Jin's here, and Rinku, Shishi and Suzuka are wandering around somewhere too. Touya couldn't make it though, he's been MIA for some time." He took a big swig from his flask and sighed in relief. "And who do we have here?" he asked, looking Sha up and down. "You must be from that other detective group."

Sha, not wanting to be rude, extended her hand. "I'm Shakaku Fanelia, but everyone calls me Sha."

Chu took her hand, but pulled her into a tight hug. "And they call me Chu."

Hiei felt a twinge of jealousy and pulled the much taller demon back away from her.

Chu only grinned. "Ah, I see. You've already had your eye on her. All right, I'll back off mate."

"That's not—" he started, but Chu only laughed as Sha blushed a furious crimson.

"It's clear as day on your face. You treat her well now, you hear me? I'll put your hide on a spit if you mess up." He turned and left to the party once more, leaving behind two very embarrassed demons.

"So, I—uh, I'm gonna put the basket in the kitchen and get a drink. Maybe play a game or two," she said, trying to take a step back, only to realize her tail had subconsciously wrapped around her legs and made her stumble a bit and squeak. She jumped right back into a steady standing position as she disappeared around the corner.

He was going to go after her before an arm wrapped around his shoulders and pulled him in the opposite direction. "So how'd that basket thing work out?" Yusuke asked, a bit drunk already.

Hiei arched a brow. "You're acting like a bit of food would gain me access between her legs." Though as he said that, he got a mental picture that he had to force to the side.

"Ah leave the lad alone, Yusuke." Hiei looked ahead and saw that the ex-detective had led him to a corner where Jin, Chu, and Kurama had been sitting. "He's allowed to take things slow if he really likes the lass," Jin continued.

Hiei glared at Kurama, who shrugged innocently as if he and Yusuke hadn't blabbed anything at all.

"Though if it had been me," Chu said, eyeing his now empty flask, "I would've had the deal sealed by now and had her in my bed."

"She'd also be leaving the next morning, you drunkard," Jin said, "after she'd realize how horrible you'd smell and that the beer goggles had worn off."

Chu frowned. "Now that's not right."

"What they're trying to say," Rinku said as he hopped up onto the windowsill beside them, "is, what's going on with you two?"

"Nothing to say on the subject," he said, taking a few too-large gulps from his bottle.

"Oh stop being your stingy self and talk for once," Yusuke said.

"As I said, there's nothing!" He caught a glimpse of her setting up a game of Dance Dance Revolution and beginning to dance to it. Though he remembered back to the last actual dance they had had.

"See, it's there on your face, clear as anything!"

"What is?"

"You're too stubborn to admit you like the woman, but it's so blatantly obvious you do!"

"There's nothing to admit!" he shot back.

The other guys just grinned at him, and he knew he was in for a long night of them shoving ideas down his throat.

* * *

Hours later, the living room had cleared out some. Most of the people had disappeared to pass out somewhere, while some, mainly Rinku, had passed out on the floor. Sha had left down their hallway a half hour ago, leaving Kurama and Hiei alone.

"Did he really have to tell me the seven weak spots on the female body?" the fire demon growled, now sifting through all the new mental pictures in his head.

"It's not just the female body, but I think seeing your reaction was worth it," Kurama said, a mischievous grin playing on his lips . "They were just trying to help."

"Help with what? Don't they understand I don't want to speed through anything? I don't want to… do any of that without her consent."

The grin now met Kurama's eyes. "Ah, you just said 'without her consent', meaning you do want to do those things."

"Not all of them." He rubbed at his eyes. "I don't want her to think she has to do anything she doesn't want to."

"I think she likes you well enough for it to all happen." His playful grin faded a bit as he added, "In time."

"Maybe." He got up. "I'm heading to bed. I'll see you in the morning."

Kurama merely nodded, heading towards the hallway he was sharing with Kitsu and Sukuna.

Hiei closed his door just as a familiar female figure was exiting his bathroom in nothing but a towel. "Should I ask why you're using my shower and not your own?"

She bit her lip, holding the towel in place. "Seems Chu passed out in the tub, and… someone's already in my bed. So, I was kinda hoping… I mean, since you have a large bed of your own. If you, ah, wouldn't mind sharing, for the night."

He arched a brow. "Odd choice of sleepwear, I'll have to admit."

She almost lost a grip on the towel as she moved to his bed, where he noticed her large shirt from last night was. "I usually don't get dressed in the bathroom, or undressed for that matter."

"Doesn't bother me either way."

She flushed and continued on, "I can go share with Kitsu or someone else, if you don't want to—"

"No, I don't mind," he said, a bit quicker than he wanted to. "Just… well I usually don't sleep with anything on when I have access to a bed." He noticed her fiddling with the corner of the towel. "So if that doesn't bother you at all, then feel free to use that side."

She nodded. "It doesn't. But, um, could you turn around for a minute, so I can put something on?"

He did as she asked, and he heard the towel fall to the floor, making his lower body respond. _Get back down. I don't need her seeing this…_ He heard the sheets being pulled back as she lowered herself into his bed.

"All right, you can do what you need to now. I'll face the wall."

He arched a brow, but proceeded in getting undressed and slipped under the sheets on the other side. "Just want to make sure again you're fine with this."

"Yeah. It's just sleeping, nothing else, right?"

He nodded but didn't really answer as they both laid down for the night, well on their own sides of the bed.


	12. Afterparty

12.

Two hours later, Sha was huddled in a ball, unable to sleep. It had been getting progressively colder the past few nights, and tonight was the worst. Salem must've passed out well before he turned on the heater. She glanced over at her bedmate and saw him sleeping peacefully on the side facing her, the sheets resting comfortably around his hips and leaving everything above bare. _How the hell is he not cold?_

Then she had a thought. A wicked thought, but one that would both benefit, and embarrass her greatly. Slowly, she scooted back against his body, instantly feeling warm from their combined body heat. The only thing that hadn't crossed her mind until now was the fact that he was naked, but she was getting warm, so that was all that mattered.

He smiled as he opened his eyes a bit, glancing down at the dragon who thought she was so sneaky. Her tail had been the first thing to touch him, and it hadn't touched his leg, or his stomach. The body part it had touched was slowly getting hard, and he stopped trying to get it back down. He put an arm around her waist, feeling her tense up. "Cold?"

"J-just a bit. I g-guess Salem f-forgot to p-p-put the heater on."

He moved his arm to rub her exposed one softly, making friction to generate a bit more heat. "I suppose so."

"Mm, t-that feels nice…"

He moved up her arm and down her back, grinning at how she arched ever-so slightly. He felt her shirt had bunched up again, and so started moving up her back under the shirt, making her arch more than before. Though doing so made him feel that she hadn't put a bra on under it, making him curious to how she'd react to something.

He moved back down, but shifted a bit, moving up her stomach. When she didn't protest at all, he continued up and felt around her chest, not exactly groping her yet. He heard her let out a soft moan, but she still didn't fight back. He used his only free hand and moved up over her chest, feeling a hardened nub under his palm. He heard her moan again, and so kept going.

"You can tell me to stop at any time, and I will…" Though he mentally hoped she wouldn't. He was painfully hard at this point, and wanted nothing more than to bury himself between her legs.

"I-I don't want you to though." She wiggled a bit, but only to pull the shirt up off her the rest of the way and tossed it to the floor before settling back down where they were.

His breath caught in his throat as he resumed what he was doing, using the soft glow of the sky as a light source to see. "I thought we were only sleeping."

"Some plans change."

He grew a bit bold and pinched the hard nub between his fingers, eliciting another soft moan from her. "Though if we keep this up, we may end up doing something that we'll regret later." He bent his head around her neck, placing rough kisses to the skin and making her cry out a bit louder. _Good thing our rooms are the only ones in this hall…_ He felt her stir and allowed her to sit up, going a bit slack-jawed at her silhouette against the sky light.

"I-if it's with you, I won't regret it." As he started to sit up with her, she pushed him back down lightly. "I want to know first. When was the last time someone focused on your needs?"

He frowned. "Why do you want to know?"

"I have my reasons."

He sighed. "Never."

"No female… ever pleased you before herself?"

"No, no female tried pleasing me. Different story." His eyes went wide in surprise as he felt her hands on his cock under the sheets. "S-shit!" What he had thought painfully hard before was nothing compared to how he was now.

She gave a little smile. "Then I suppose sharing your bed with me tonight won't be all that bad." She started moving her hand, keeping a firm grip on his shaft, making him groan against his teeth. When she saw he kept his eyes closed, his jaw slightly slacked, she shifted and placed a small lick to the tip of him, causing him to hiss in pleasure, and anticipation. She encircled all she could with her mouth and began twisting her hand up and down, smiling to herself as his back arched ever-so slightly.

"I can't… I'm coming…"

She moved at the right time as he spilled onto his stomach, letting out a low, drawn-out groan. "And so now someone's pleased you." She propped herself up on her elbows, crossing them in front of her bare chest.

He felt his drive go back down as his breathing regulated. "I never felt anything like that. Though, could you hand me that towel you were using before?"

She nodded and leaned over her side of the bed to grab it, giving him a view that made his drive start to rise again. He wasn't expecting the sad look she gave when she turned back to him with the cloth.

"What's wrong?"

"I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry."

He wiped off his stomach before tossing the towel back to the floor. "You didn't have to, I'll admit that, but I was the one to initiate the touching. So if anyone is to be sorry, it's me. Thing is, I'm not."

"I didn't exactly stop you…"

"No, you didn't. Reason why I'm not sorry is the fact I've never been able to do anything like that, and it was pleasant, for both of us. The whole thing." He felt the dragon on his arm shift nervously as his normally stable and aggressive emotions tumbled around. "Though I think we've done enough for one night." He saw her nod, and so took it as an indication to lay back down.

She tried going back to her side, but he insisted on pulling her back to him. "I thought we were through for the night?"

"We are. This is… relaxing, for some reason." _Because I feel like I finally have someone to protect._

_She'll be gone in the morning._

Just that thought made him go cold for a second. He pulled her a little closer and kissed her bare shoulder. "I'll repay you back soon."

"Mm, all right…"

He felt her body relax more before attempting to sleep himself. _Will she still be here when I wake?_

_Why are you so damned worried about it? You're sinking too deep and too fast, you fool._

_Maybe it's not such a horrible thing, to not hate at least one person. Maybe it's even a great thing, to be in love._

_Love leads to trouble, or have you forgotten already?_

_This is different… somehow._

_She will only turn and stab you in the back, just like everyone else._

_Oh just screw off, would you?_

As he felt sleep tugging at his eyes, he had to wonder if that other side of his mind was the voice of reason, or the voice of his unending nightmares.


	13. Crash

13.

Hiei awoke the next morning, but chose to not open his eyes, thinking he was still dreaming when he felt the other presence in his bed. _She… really stayed? _

He was about to gently shake her awake, when a sharp and loud knock sounded on his door. Both demons shot up out of bed with a start, not taking into consideration their state of dress. Or undress.

"Hiei! Have you seen Sha around?" It was Yusuke, and he sounded annoyed.

But not as annoyed as the freshly-woken demons. "You just woke me up, how the hell would I have seen her?" he shot back at the door, trying to ignore the fact her eyes kept slipping. He put a finger to his lips, indicating she remain quiet, and she clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Well she's not in her room, Suzuka was in her bed. She's not by the shoreline. Chu's still unconscious in the tub. So we've got no idea where she is. Kurama's starting to get worried."

"And why would you come to ask me at such an ungodly hour?" He looked at the clock, which read seven in the morning.

"Well we were hoping maybe she had had a few drinks and came in here for a little lovin'."

Sha snorted behind her cupped hand while Hiei rolled his eyes. He could clearly imagine the ex-detective waggling his eyebrows suggestively. "If that would have happened, I think I'd be a bit less agitated, wouldn't you agree?"

"Well you haven't threatened my life in any way yet, so it seems something did."

_Yeah, an amazing bl— _"Wouldn't be your business to know what happens or didn't happen anyway!"

"Aha! So something did happen last night! Admit it!"

"There's nothing to admit! I've told you this already!" He picked up the nearest solid object, which happened to be her boot, and tossed it at the wooden frame.

"All right already, jeez! But when you do see her, you should start confessing."

"You have ten seconds before I come out there and kill you."

As a response, they heard footsteps retreating back down the hallway, and they both breathed a sigh of relief.

"Confess what exactly?" she asked, crossing her arms over her still-bare chest.

"Nothing at all," he lied. "Those idiots are just under the impression I've fallen head over heels in love with you."

"You say it like it would be a bad thing if you had."

"Right now it would be." He was a bit surprised at the small flash of red in her eyes.

"So what was last night about? Better yet, what was all of yesterday about?" She glared at him. "What's been making you act like you do to me? With the touching and kissing. Among other things," she nodded to below his waist-line, which he still hadn't covered up. "Are you just looking for an easy way to get your rocks off?"

"Wha— no that's not—"

"Then what is it!" She surprised even herself with her anger. It wasn't her fault, really. It's like the old saying goes, "the heart knows what the heart wants".

"I… don't know. Not exactly anyway."

"Funny, since you didn't seem to question why I never stopped you with any of your advancements on me, when I stopped countless others. Hell, I've never done what I did to _you_ before. Not even to…"

_What'd I tell you? She's getting ready for a backstab._

_One that I deserve for once…_

"Sha, I'm sorry." The small apology that sounded so foreign to him spilled off his tongue so easily. "My personal life is just a mess right now. I'm still picking up the pieces. I had planned to spend a few weeks gathering everything and putting it back the way it was. I wasn't expecting someone like you to just appear to help me with it."

"What am I to you?"

"I don't know right now."

Unexpected tears stung her eyes and a lump formed in her throat. "I-I see." She picked up her shirt and threw it on, heading for the door.

He grabbed her arm to try and stop her. "Wait."

"Wait for what? Wait for you to return the feelings I have? Not likely." Her eyes widened and she clapped a hand over her mouth. His eyes did the same. Without another word, he let his grasp weaken and she pulled out of it, retreating from his room to disappear from his sight.

He quickly pulled his pants on as he heard footsteps coming back down his hall. Kurama came in, a sullen look on his face. "I blew it…"

The fox merely nodded as he closed the door behind him. "I was going to check with you myself when Yusuke left the hall, and then I heard the conversation." He paused. "It seems she shares your… interest, if we would like to call it that."

"I hurt her…"

"There's no sugar-coating it. You did hurt her." He took a seat next to his friend, who now held his black hair in his hands.

"Why is this bothering me like it is? I've never cared if I hurt someone before. Why now?"

"You have to answer her question, truthfully. What is she to you?"

"I can't put a single word to it. She… she's always happy, for the most part. Kind and compassionate. A little of a klutz at times, but nothing major. She makes me, well, feel less empty. Like there's a point to being here after all." He paused and growled a bit. "Why can't I hate her like everyone else?"

"You know the answer to that already. You have to admit it to yourself, and to her."

He chewed at the inside of his cheek as Kurama left, letting him soak in his own thoughts for awhile.

* * *

Sha had stopped in her room only long enough to get a pair of pants and a halter top before she slipped the pants on and left out the back. She pulled the top on under her sleep one before taking off the larger bit of clothing. Her tattoos glowed a deep bluish-black and her wings formed out of thin air, connected solidly to her skin and bones. Her normally black irises switched to red as she jumped from the ground, effectively launching herself in the air. There was nothing quite like a long flight to clear her mind. Her tail kept her balanced as she soared around the property and a bit beyond,

She was finally able to get a proper look at their location, and she had to give props to Salem's parents for picking such a nice location. The city she and her friends lived in, Severa, was a few miles away. It was much like Gandara, except it was in a much nicer part of Demon World. It wasn't full of rich snooty-snoots, but it did house a lot of law-abiding demons who just wanted a quiet life.

_A quiet life. I can't even remember what that really was._

She knew why she was upset. While she didn't expect him to openly say "I love you", since she knew that wasn't him at all, she had at least hoped he felt the same way in having interest in her being his lover.

_Foolishness._ A very large tree in the middle of Salem's property caught her eye, and she flew in close to it, landing on one of the top-most branches. _Why would he be any different from the others?_

_He didn't try to seduce you from the start._

_No, but he feels nothing, even after everything we've done. Sure it hasn't been a lot, but it's been enough. … Right? _She settled down on the branch, keeping her wings summoned but folded tightly against her body as she leaned against the trunk. The lack of sleep soon got to her, and she passed out, one thought still crossing her mind: _What am I?_


	14. Insight

14.

Everyone else had given up their searches for her by noon. Hiei still persisted though, looking through the trees that inhabited the remainder of the property. She was nearby, he could tell that much, but he couldn't figure out where exactly. He had circled the area three times already before he sat on a rock to catch his breath. It was only when he looked up that he noticed something out of place.

Though just as he saw her form on the top branch of the tree in front of him, she spread out her wings and took off, out of sight.

_At least I know she's really a dragon…_ He figured she went back to the house, and so began to trudge back up. _Can't believe I'm thinking this, but I'm getting too old for this shit…

* * *

_

Sha landed on the porch, flipping a few strands of hair out of her face as her wings dissolved into the markings on her back once more. But she wasn't alone on the wooden deck.

"And here I was thinking you were just another reptile of some sort!"

She jumped at the unexpected voice and saw the extremely tall demon with the Mohawk. "Oh, Chu, you startled me." With her small stature, she came up to his waist, at most.

"Why ain't you with your lover there?" he blatantly asked.

She didn't even flinch. "You need to have sex first before someone is a lover. There needs to be emotions there too. He doesn't qualify under either of those."

"Ah, pity then." He grinned and took a swig out of his newly-filled flask. _This should get his arse moving._ "He really did seem to like you."

"Yeah, well he puts on a good act. Can't believe I was so stupid to think that— oh nevermind, you don't want to hear this. Who would?"

Chu frowned. "That doesn't sound like him, Love." Sha only rolled her eyes and tried entering the house, but he stood in her way. "Running away won't solve anything."

"There's nothing there to solve!" she retorted.

Her outburst made him grin. "Now there you go you're already starting to sound like him."

She tried hitting his stomach to get him to move out of the way, but he caught her fist in his hand. "Come now, Sheila, you two were getting along so well."

"On my end, yes. On his…" She felt her throat clench up. "On his, I'm not anything more than a bit of flesh."

Chu looked out to the opening of the woods and saw Hiei standing there, within hearing range of everything. "I don't think that's what he thinks, Love."

"What else do you call what he's been doing?"

"I don't know the fine details there to tell you." He saw how she got a little uncomfortable. "But, from what we all saw, he couldn't keep his eyes off you. And from knowing him for a few years, let me tell you, that's an odd sight in itself."

She faltered a bit. "He said—"

"He says a lot of things." He let go of her fist as he felt it going slack. He saw the other demon had moved out of sight, but he still knew he was there. "One thing you have to know about him is he's an asshole to everyone. So, him finding someone he can't hate, that's hard on him. Especially now." He led Sha over to sit on one of the stairs leading off the deck.

"He seems to have no problem acting on what he feels though."

Chu merely laughed. "Most guys do. Sheila, what you have to understand about him is he's normally withdrawn from everyone. Doesn't talk about himself at all, or talk to anyone else for that matter unless we talk to him first. So confessing anything at all is near impossible for him, especially in his situation of being a single man again after spending two years with… well that should be his choice to tell you."

"He brought her up, and how he was treated by her lately. I didn't think someone like him deserved to be treated like that." She smiled a bit. "He's open to a lot of things. I haven't seen that asshole side in full really, but I can imagine what you're saying. Just yesterday he helped me with my sword skills, and… I taught him how to dance."

The Australian let out a surprised laugh. "Then you have nothing to worry about. I'm sure he's kicking himself in the ass right now for being, well, himself."

She crossed her arms over her knees and rested her head on them. Her small smile remained. "I have to put a doubt on that. But, it doesn't hurt to dream, right?"

Chu noticed Hiei coming up the path, and he decided it was time to go. "I think I'll leave you two alone."

She looked at him questioningly before following his gaze and saw the demon coming back from the woods. Chu put a comforting hand on her shoulder before heading into the house.

"Sha, we need to talk."


	15. Confession

15

The clouds that had been hovering around the property for hours had given way to snow, making Sha rub at her arms a bit. "Damned oddball fall weather…" she muttered, seeing her breath appear before her.

He took off the cloak he had put on earlier and put it around her shoulders. "It's not much, but it should help."

She looked away from him, but took the cloak all the same. She was pissed, not stupid. She tucked her tail under the fabric while he sat next to her. "Why did you come looking for me?"

"Everyone did. Well, that's a lie. We did. Your friends didn't see a point in it."

She snorted. "They know when I disobey orders it's for a damned good reason." She kept her gaze focused on a tree in front of her, seeing the snow gently fall in her peripheral vision. "Why did you come looking for me to that extent, I should ask."

"The rest gave up after a half hour."

"I was gone for quite some time." She narrowed her eyes at the tree. "You searched that whole time?"

"Yes."

"You still haven't answered why."

He fell silent for a few seconds, choosing his words carefully. "I wanted to apologize for what I said this morning. And I wanted to talk to you," he hesitated before adding, "about making this something more."

Her breath caught in her throat, but she still didn't look at him. "I'm afraid I'm not sure what you mean by 'this'. At the moment, it could be going inside, or even building a snowman when the snow piles up high enough."

He grounded his teeth a bit in frustration. The woman was actually making him… fight for this. But, she wasn't questioning his masculinity while she was at it, nor was she provoking him or mocking him. Fine, he'd bite. "You know damn well what I mean. Would you look at me, at least?" He heard her sigh as she finally drew her attention from the tree. "You deserve to know what's happened up until this point. To make you understand a bit more on why I am how I am."

"I have a good idea. A scornful lover took one too many stabs at your manhood, and when you put yourself out in the open, she mocked you and threw you out. You've told me that much, and I understand why you'd be so hesitant to put yourself on the line again so soon." She gave a ghost of a smile. "We met only a few days ago, and have gradually been warming up to each other. I can understand why you don't want to open up a relationship again. You're afraid."

She had hit the nail right on the head, smack dab in the perfect point to drive it on home. "Which is something I don't ever admit to. But yes." It was his turn to stare at a tree while the snow continued to fall around them, making small piles here and there. "Thing is, you're completely different. Right from the start you've been different."

She frowned. "Different in a bad way?"

"No, different in a good way. As in a nice change of pace. You don't mock me, or push my temper. So, because of that I'd…" He trailed off, not sure with himself on how to say the rest. _Oh come on, how hard can this really be?_

"You'd what?"

"I'd… like to be able to do more than what we already do." He saw out of the corner of his eye that she was about to say something, but he continued on. "Not just physical. Don't think I'm demanding you to give your body to me. Things like this too. Just talking."

"But you don't want the commitment of a relationship."

"I didn't say that, now did I?"

This made her jaw go a bit slack, though she quickly turned that into a sly grin. "Sir, are you attempting to court me?"

"If that's what you think of it, I suppose." He was surprised to hear her laugh, but it wasn't a harmful one. "What's so funny about it?"

"I was only kidding with calling it 'courting'. That hasn't been done in ages. Nowadays it's dating, though you don't need to constantly go on dates."

"I knew that much, and what one another is called in said relationship."

Her grin remained. "So I'm your girlfriend now?"

He looked back at the tree. "Yes." He looked back at her as he felt her fingers lace with his. "So you're not mad anymore?"

"Let me think about it." Without warning, she hit him in the face with a handful of snow she had picked up on the side of the step. "There, now I'm not mad."

Her giggling in amusement was contagious as he wiped the snow off his face. "Don't think you're gonna get away with that."

She let out a squeak as she dodged out of the way of his own handful of snow. "Gotta be faster than that!"

Unbeknownst to them, their friends had been watching from the sliding glass doors, grinning as the two began to play in the snow.

"Aw, that means we have to close the pool!" Yusuke said suddenly, clapping a hand to his forehead.

Hyouga looked away from the door. "Yeah, who won that bet anyway?"

"Let's see." He pulled the folded paper and envelope of money from his pocket and looked at it. "Um, four days, right?"

"I'll be taking that," Kurama said, plucking the envelope from the ex-detective's hand.

"Dammit all Kurama, you're supposed to be the good guy in these things," Sukuna said.

Kurama smiled and held up a finger. "I am good in these things. I made the right guess didn't I?"

As Kurama left the room, Jin burst out laughing. "Well he got you there, lass!"

"Though we'd best be getting on our way," Chu said, "before the snow picks up any more."

"Not like we haven't traveled in worse than this," Rinku said.

"Ugh, any more of your horrid-weather traveling and my face just might show it," Suzuka complained, but followed the others out regardless. They all said their goodbyes, not even noticing two certain demons had disappeared from sight.

* * *

After having chased her back into the woods, Hiei finally caught up to Sha, snatching her around the middle and effectively dragging her down to the ground. However, he didn't see the slight dip in the ground, and both went tumbling down the small slope. They landed with her on top, pinning him down by his shoulders.

"Ha, pinned you!"

"You think so?" He flipped her over, into a too-deep pile of snow. "Oh hell—" He couldn't help but burst out laughing as she yelped from the cold and shot straight to her feet. "Guess we shouldn't have left the cloak on the steps, huh?"

"Y-yeah, kinda a-a bad mistake."

He chuckled and stood up. "All right, then let's go back."

She nodded and they started back up to the house, still oblivious to their friend's games.


	16. 21 Questions

16.

As they came back up to the house, they saw Hyouga sitting on the porch steps, listening to a portable CD player and playing with the fallen snow. She was manipulating the small flakes, having fun making little shapes with it. When she saw them, she let the snow fall back into a pile and pulled one of the ear buds from the dog ears on top of her head. "Well now, we were all wondering where you had disappeared to."

Sha narrowed her eyes a bit in confusion. "Who's 'we' in this situation?"

"Sukuna and Kitsu, who else?" She turned the player off and stood, plucking the other bud out too. "They've been dying for a rematch in DDR."

The half dragon arched a brow. "So you waited out here for me to come back to tell me that? What a faithful dog you are."

"Shove it, Firebreath, that's not why I'm out here." Hyouga's smile didn't meet her harsh words. "I came to talk to Mr. Lover-boy here."

Sha punched her in the arm as Hiei tried to say something in his defense. "Knock it off!"

"You're my best friend and I'm looking out for you. Now run along and play with the girls."

"I'm older than you, you know."

"Yes, and I'm taller and stronger. That outweighs age without wisdom." Her smile remained as her friend's scowl grew. "I won't bite."

"Don't say anything stupid," Sha muttered and brushed past Hyouga to head into the house.

"Me? Say something stupid? Never," she called back to her friend, who proceeded to flip her off before closing the door behind her.

He picked up his cloak that still sat on the bottom step, brushing off random snowflakes before putting it on. The small storm hadn't left a thick layer of the frozen water, but it was noticeable here and there.

"Weather's a bit crazy, huh?" Hyouga asked, taking a seat on one of the patio chairs. "Snow shows up the first few days of fall, then doesn't come back until winter."

"I highly doubt you wanted to discuss the weather with me."

"Perceptive as always, I assume." She gestured to the chair next to him, indicating he take a seat. "Though I don't know you very well, but I can see you're a lot more intelligent than Yusuke. Maybe even Kurama by a bit."

He sat, trying to figure out the half-dog's game. "What would you like to speak of with me?"

"I'd like to know your true intentions towards my friend. Call it a woman's job to be protective of her comrades."

"Get to know her better, that's the start of my intentions, if you must know."

Her ears perked forward in growing interest. "Oh? With no sexual interest in her at all?"

He got up from the chair. "It's not anything you really need to know that deeply."

Hyouga merely smiled. "Relax. I'm not here to call you out or anything like that. Not even to tease. From what I've seen and heard, you both could use each other's influence."

His rising anger slowly dissipated. "What do you mean?"

"Sit back down and I'll tell you." She crossed her legs and folded her arms as he sat in his seat once more. "She… hasn't taken a lover in years. Centuries, mind you. Not since… well I'm sure she's told you about him." She saw him nod. "She knows how to care for others before herself. If she were seriously wounded, and I had a scratch, she'd worry more about me. If we were both in a state of depression, she'd be the one trying to make me laugh."

"So what you're saying is that I don't care at all about anyone else before myself."

"Yeah, and you can't deny that either."

He shrugged. "I'm not denying it."

"Well, good." She shifted a bit. "Anyway, you've been through a lot. For a lot longer than her, no doubt. You'd be able to teach her a thing or two in combat." She reached into her pants pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. "Play this game with her tonight."

He stared at the paper. "Excuse me?"

She laughed slightly through her nose. "It's not bad. Not unless you want it to be. The game is '21 Questions'."

"I thought it was 20 Questions."

"20 Questions is a child's game, where one child focuses on an object, and the other gets 20 questions to figure out what the object is. 21 Questions is a game where couples get to know each other better." She handed him the paper, but stopped him as he went to go look through it. "No peeking though. In there is a list of possible questions to ask. They range from completely innocent, to extremely dirty."

"Why should I play some stupid game with her?"

Hyouga just smiled. "Deny it all you want, but this game will help." She got up and left him in the chilly fall air to head back inside. "Trust me; I already played that this week. Learned a lot too." She didn't let him say anything else though as she closed the door behind her.

He looked at the folded bit of paper on the table in front of him, contemplating on taking it or not. After awhile, he shrugged and took it. _What's the worst thing that could happen?

* * *

_

Hours later, after sharing a dinner that Kurama and Kitsu had put together, the two half-fire demons slipped away into his room, not seeing the warning glare Hyouga sent all the others that clearly said "Bother them and you die".

"All right, so what is it you wanted to share with me?" Sha asked as she took a spot on his bed. He sat on it too, across from her. "You seemed a little hesitant to tell me. Did Hyouga say something stupid like I told her not to?"

"No, she actually helped." He had discarded his cloak when he came in the house earlier, and so could reach into his pocket for the paper without it being a hindrance. "She gave me an idea of a game. Usually I despise games, but this one seems like it'd be useful."

"Oh? And what one would that be?"

"She called it 21 Questions, and she gave me what seems to be a long list of questions that could be asked."

She smiled a bit. "I see. The old 'getting to know you' game." She adjusted her halter top, feeling it slipping a bit down her back. "All right, let's play then. Ask me the first question."

Surprised she had agreed so easily, he opened up the paper, glancing at the questions. He decided to go with one of the innocent ones first. "What's made you laugh the hardest in your life?"

"It's stupid, and a bit on the morbid side, but when me and Hyouga first started our killing streak, she didn't know some organs stream out blood like a fountain after the body in question is dead. She pierced one of those organs, and blood went all over her face! Took her hours to clean it off. All the while yelling 'I've been violated!'." She saw him chuckling a bit, and she frowned. "It's really not as funny, when all these years have passed."

"Probably just something you had to be there for."

"Yeah, guess so. Okay, let me see." She took the paper from his loose grasp and looked over it. "Ah. What's the most embarrassing thing you've ever done?" When he sat silent for a few seconds, she said, "And remember we have to answer honestly. No secrets can be withheld during this game."

"Then what I did this afternoon."

"That could be an abundance of things. You tend to beat around the bush a lot when you don't want to admit something." She thought for a second. "All right, answer me that one, and I'll answer a dirty question for you next. How about that?"

He sighed. "Fine, walls are down. When I asked you out."

"See was that so hard?"

"You get one question per turn," he said as he took the paper back. "Here's one. Have you ever skinny dipped?" She burst out laughing, making him second-guess himself. "What's so funny?"

"One question per turn." She stuck out her tongue. "But to answer it, honestly no. I've never had the desire to do it before." She didn't take the paper this time. "Why do you wear this?" She reached out and put a gentle finger to the bandana around his forehead. "I haven't seen you take it off."

_I'm not allowed to hide anything from her tonight. That's the deal of this game. Dammit._ He pushed the cloth up, showing the closed third eye. She didn't pull back like he expected her to though. "When I was younger, probably around your age, I had this implanted. It works like the real thing, but it took a very long time to return my body to the condition it was before. And if you don't mind, I'd like to keep my reasoning to myself."

"By all means." She retracted her hand. "That was four."

For the next half hour or so, they went through the rest of the innocent questions, but when they hit seventeen, all that was left was personal and dirty questions. "We can stop here, if you want," he said, putting the paper between them.

"I play my games through until the end," she said with a meek smile. "If we're to make this into something more, we'll need to know these things anyway."

He rubbed at the back of his neck as he asked the next question. "What's the sexiest thing you've ever worn?"

"Ah, well, I have a few negligees that I sometimes wear to bed. They're at my apartment. I just never had a reason to wear them for anyone's eyes. My mate and I only had sex once, and that was to seal the bond. No foreplay, nothing like that. He was killed too soon after. I never took another lover, and so never had an excuse to be sexy, in that sense."

_That means she's had more than enough time for her to heal. Probably tighter than— _He shook his head slightly to stop the incoming thoughts. "Sorry to hear that. About his death, I mean."

"It's all right. It's been over two centuries; I've had my grieving time." She glanced at the paper again. "Have you ever had sex with someone you really didn't want to?"

"No, since I can't call what I did sex. Have you ever watched a porn movie?"

She laughed a bit. "I caught Hyouga looking at one once. I didn't watch it myself though." She had purposefully left the last question until the end. Her mouth went a little dry as she asked, "What's the difference between sex and making love?"

He felt a small shock through his body. It was the one question he didn't have a definite answer for. "I can't answer that."

"Why not? You were able to tell me how old you were, that you're half koorime, and you can't—"

"I could only pull things out of my ass to form an answer for you. I don't know the difference because I haven't even felt satisfaction from what I was able to do."

She felt a pang of guilt, but realized she didn't have an answer for the question. Since she had only had sex once, and with one man, that wasn't enough to know. Then an idea sprang in her head. _They won't notice if I'm gone for a half hour…_ "Get a shower, enjoy some time to yourself. I'll be back in awhile, so expect to have a bedmate again tonight."

He arched a brow. "Are you ordering me around?"

"It'll be worth it in the long run, I promise." She left his room then, in search of a quiet way in and out of the house.


	17. Consummation

**I can't believe this chapter took so long to write. Usually I'm good with smut. I got help from my IRL friend, Aryquin, as she went through and fixed my little errors. She even wrote some of this, but I won't point out which. So thanks a lot for all the help with this chapter! To the readers, I hope you're ready for the most romantic lemon I've ever pushed out. ... Or really an attempted romantic lemon. Remember that flames will just be ignored and/or laughed at.

* * *

**

17.

He wasn't stupid. He knew exactly what she meant to do. Well, not completely, but he knew the general idea of what she wanted to do, and it started getting to him.

Hiei took a shower, as she had suggested, but didn't know how to ebb off the unexpected nervousness he felt in his gut. He looked at his bedside clock as he put his pants on seeing it read eleven at night. She'd been gone for an hour, giving his mind plenty of time to wander to dark places.

_Why is this bothering me so damn much? It's not like she actually meant she wanted to sleep with me. Not in that sense. I'm just thinking into this too much._

_You'll scare her off by showing her the monster you really are._

He brushed off the thoughts as he heard a soft knock on his door. "Come in," he said, keeping his voice steady.

Sha entered the room, seeming a bit shyer than normal. She had changed into a long black overcoat, and a pair of black heels. The coat ended at her knees, and was held together by a sash in the front, and from the hem down, he got a nice view of her legs. "Before anything happens, you have to agree with something."

He brought his attention back to her face, seeing a bit of makeup. "All right."

"You have to promise me you won't laugh at anything. Promise?"

He nodded as she sighed.

She fiddled with the sash, not exactly untying it yet. "Had to dig around in my closet for this thing."

"What, the coat, or the heels?"

To answer his question, she undid the sash and let the coat fall around her elbows, and his jaw dropped slightly.

"O-oh, that's… yeah, I can see why you'd—"

She bit at her lip, inadvertently getting a stronger reaction from him. "I take it you like it?"

_Guess I was wrong…_ "I'd have to be a eunuch to not like that sight." She had on what looked like a black bra with silk mesh that flowed down around her hips, over a matching set of panties. _She'll be the death of me, I can see it now._ Her heels clacked on the wood flooring as she came closer, a bit slow.

She stopped as she stood between his stretched legs, putting weight to one leg. "Though I'll confess now, I've… never done anything like this before."

Getting a little anxious, he tugged her forward, making her straddle his hips. "Neither have I." His voice had dropped to a low baritone, starting to drip with lust. "But why are you doing this?"

"It's not out of pity, if that's what you're thinking. I-I just think, well, we could both use this. No one should be treated like dirt when they should know what… making love feels like."

Somehow their lips had gotten closer, but they didn't touch just yet. "Although, are you sure you want to give yourself to someone like me?" With each inhale, he tasted her breath. He turned away before he could lose any more of himself to this. "You don't know what I can be like."

"From everything you've shown me," she started as she moved slowly closer to his ear, "and told me, you are a good person. And if that's only to me, then that's something I can take." She took his face gently in her hands and slowly turned it to face hers. "You're not a monster…"

With that, his control began to slip, and he closed the space between them, groaning at the taste of her. Being able to touch so much of her skin made him react harder.

Not able to help herself, she ran her hands down his chest and over his stomach, eliciting a soft groan from him, her fingers absently playing on some of his hairs. She stopped though, when she felt a small abrasion that didn't fit in place. She pulled back out of his kiss and frowned as she looked at where she felt the scar tissue. "I never noticed this before."

His head floated beneath a sea of fog, and it took him a second to realize what she meant. "It's an old wound that I received not long after the one on my arm. It's nothing."

Now that she had a proper look at him, she noticed a multitude of tiny scars. None that really stood out from far away, but they were there all the same. Her body carried the same type of scars, but not nearly as many. "Those two are the deepest cuts…"

"And I don't want to talk about them." He hated how his voice betrayed him as he said, "Not now." A thought came to his mind, a memory from their game. "_My mate and I only had sex once, and that was to seal the bond. No foreplay, nothing like that." _

She took the hint and kissed each tiny scar she could see on his arm up his shoulder. If he moaned a bit, Sha stopped on that one and ran a light flick of the tongue there. The crisscrossing designs some of them made tempted her to follow across his front and partway down his other arm.

Hiei wondered what she was up to, but didn't question the tingling sensations each kiss, each lap of her tongue made. It felt different from anything he'd ever had before… and he had to admit that he didn't hate it. His eyes changed to curiosity as she stood up and took a step back.

"Stand up," she said with softness in her voice. As he rose, she sank and continued her pursuit with her mouth on his skin. A couple of times he moaned from deep in his throat, growing harder as she continued.

_I'm going to lose control if she keeps this up._ He closed his eyes trying to regain some of the fortitude he knew was there, but her teases kept sliding it just beyond his reach. He never realized when he felt her touch leave him… or rather, leave his flesh. "What are you doing?"

"You'll see," she commented with a smirk before she gave a final kiss to his zipper. Sha rose to her feet in one quick motion and looked at the bed. "Um… maybe you should take a step forward… away from the bed." He complied with curiosity plastered on his face.

Sha took his hand and kissed the center of his palm, playing her lips gently over his calluses. He took her chin with that hand and lifted her face back up to his, and took her lips once more. He felt a warmth grow in his lips as she poured herself into the kiss.

The warm tingles flowed through his body and down his arms. His dragon tattoo wriggled with slight pleasure and he moaned into her mouth. His earlier haze returned with a vengeance. His one hand moved to pull her closer as his other moved slowly up her side.

_What am I doing—_

_Oh, shut up!_ He told the doubtful inner voice. His eyes opened to slits to catch a glimpse of her pleasure in his kisses. That's when he noticed her energy surrounding him in tiny flames. A second later, he felt his pants fall to his knees, and he broke the kiss. A small flare of his energy dispelled the design of fire. Hiei took the moment and moved to suckle her ear, eliciting a moan from her. He moved his hands up her body, pulling the mesh-like top up to her breasts.

Sha's breath hitched when he teased her nipples. She moaned as he kept up his play. Trance-like, she lifted her arms only long enough for Hiei to remove her top before she pulled him back to her, kissing whatever she could reach of him. She barely registered that he was poking her further down, but when that information was finally received, she gently pushed him back onto the bed with her on top of him.

He studied the slim woman, tracing some of her own slight scars with his hands. He stopped at the tip of her black panties. Hesitant, he ran his hand along the thin fabric until she let out a soft gasp. This enticed a little victory grin from him as he kept going, slowly sliding further under the fabric until he reached her soft folds, already wet and hot with want.

She started a bit as he touched her, surprised with how… _amazing_ it felt. _And he hasn't even _moved_ them yet._

Out of pure instinct he moved his fingers down her slit, hearing her take a sharp breath. He curiously slipped two fingers inside her, and felt how tight she still was. Her soft moans made him continue on, slowly pumping them in and out of her, absorbing most of her moans with kisses. With his other free hand he pushed her hair to one side of her neck and moved to kiss the unmarred skin. Doing so made him feel his fangs start to show, but he held them at bay, not wanting to accidentally nick at her skin. Just the smallest drop of her blood would seal her to him, and he didn't want that. Not now. He slipped his fingers out of her and slid them up, feeling the small hard nub he knew lay hidden there. As soon as he started his strokes her moans grew louder, and he had to silence her with a scorching kiss once more, lest she wake up the entire house.

Her knees were going to give out on her, she could feel it already, but she didn't care. Every touch and kiss he was giving her body made her feel like she was on fire. Then she felt tension in her lower body building, something foreign to her. "Move faster," escaped from her lips before she could stop it, although she had no time to feel bashful about it. He obliged and continued his movements at a faster pace, until she couldn't bear his actions any longer. The tension exploded and she felt her body convulse a bit in small spasms. She couldn't fight back the unexpected and border-lining-scream she emitted as he continued on, drawing out her orgasm for as long as she could take it, until she had to nudge at his hand.

He took the hint and pulled his hand from her panties, seeing the juices that coated his fingers. _All that… from me? _Hiei didn't have much more of a chance to dwell on it before he felt her lips place a gentle kiss to the tip of his cock. He hadn't noticed her slinking down to the floor to kneel in front of him, catching him off guard with her gentle touches. She lightly raked her black nails down his shaft, making his breath hitch in his throat. "D-don't do that right now." She looked up at him with curiosity, and let him prop himself up on his elbows. "It feels too much like teasing, and that's not going to work."

Taking the hint, she formed a circle with her thumb and index finger and placed it at his head, pulling it down his shaft and making him suck in a sharp breath and groan. "That's better?"

Unable to answer, he nodded. He moaned against his teeth— which were getting sharp again— as she encircled him with her mouth, adding on to the twisting movements she was doing now.

She kept it up, going with whatever made him moan in reaction, until he stopped her a few minutes after. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing at all. But if you keep that up, I won't last much longer." She moved and he stood before her, changing their positions so she was against the bed. "Though I'll be honest in saying I have no idea what I'm doing. I've never felt the need to do this before." He lifted her up bridal-style, eliciting a small squeak from her and laid her on the bed, settling himself between her legs. A small pang of nerves shot through him and he turned his head away, not able to look at her. "If you don't want to continue, I'll stop. I'll understand if you don't want me to be the one to do this."

Again, she gently made him face her. "I wouldn't have gone all the way home to get this ridiculous outfit on for you if I didn't."

It was then he noticed she was still in her panties and heels, and a small laugh escaped his nose. "Forgot all about those. Sorry." He sat back and helped her out of the panties, but stopped her as she tried taking the shoes off. "You're keeping those on."

A soft smile showed on her face. "Am I? Says who?"

He grinned as she started playing her sly little game. "I say so. Those aren't to come off until I'm through with you."

She let out a sound that was similar to a purr and lifted her hips a bit, connecting their most intimate places together. "Then they stay on."

He pushed forward a bit, but stopped right when his head pushed through, hearing her hiss a bit in pain. "Are you all right?"

She nodded, clenching down on her fangs. "Just been a long time. Basically made me a virgin all over again. Try going in slow."

It took all of his willpower to not simply shove himself in to the hilt. He bit down on his own fangs that had come out in full, as he pushed himself all the way in as far as he would go in that position. He bit back an obscenity before he looked back at her face, seeing the shine of tears at the corner of her eyes. Before he could stop himself, he bent over and lightly kissed her eyes before her lips, still remaining motionless inside her so her body could become used to him.

She accidentally pushed at his fangs and pulled back a bit, looking at him curiously. "You didn't have those before."

He grinned, showing them. "They're usually hidden. I don't care to show them off to anyone. I think they came out on their own as a mating instinct."

"Keep them like that. They look better when they're as they should be."

She began to relax around him. "Tell me if it starts to hurt again." He waited for her to nod before pulling back out slowly, and pushing back in a bit faster, making her gasp and moan. Her hand found his and intertwined them over her head as he continued on, building up momentum gradually.

She could barely keep her moans silent, but the times he pushed in extra hard a loud one would slip out. They entered into a steady rhythm, keeping in time with each other, both feeling a light sheen of sweat start to break out on their bodies. Their auras dimly flared, encircling around and melding into one, heightening their senses slightly.

His strokes became more frantic as her walls started to tighten around him and she let out short but loud moans that he knew would have been screams if she hadn't been trying to not wake the whole house. Her arms wrapped tightly around him and her claws dug into his back, drawing blood as she bit down on her fangs, though that didn't silence her growing sounds. All of the feelings and sensations sent him close to the edge, but her moaning his name was what pushed him over it. He dug nails that had turned into claws into the sheets as he rode out his orgasm in her, a low groan escaping from his lips.

He pulled them on their sides, still inside her, and held her close, kissing her deeply.

_She'll be gone when her mission here is complete._

He pulled back and brushed the hair out of her face, over her shoulder, seeing her smile in satisfaction, and he knew he was mirroring that look, despite his thoughts. He slowly frowned as the thought sunk in.

"What's wrong?" she asked, brushing some of his damp bangs from his face.

"You'll be leaving, once your mission is completed, won't you?"

Her smile slowly faded. "I will." She looked down as she joined their fingers together once more. "But I don't live far away. I'm in the city, so it's not like the end of the mission is a goodbye."

His nerves flashed at her words. _I have no idea what it is I'm feeling, but it's like I'd never be the same if she left. I cannot let this woman go._ He kissed her again, feeling the fog and tingling sensation return. "Mate with me."

The words slipped out without a thought, but Sha heard them loud and clear despite it being a hushed whisper. "What?"

Hiei stared at her, a bit slack-jawed. "I don't know why that slipped, or how. That's not something—"

She put a finger to his lips. "I'd need some time to think about that. I can see it sometime in the future, but not at this exact moment." She looked at his chest and played with the small bit of hairs there, ignoring the small scars. "There's a strong emotion there, I'll admit, but I can't say it's enough for that."

He nodded in agreement, and felt her trying to move. He held on fast though. "Don't. It's nice, still being inside."

She smiled. "While I agree, I would like to get these heels off, if you're through with me."

"Not just yet. But I'd just like to enjoy this for awhile more."

"Ah, so we're not sleeping tonight I take it."

"That's the plan."

She laughed slightly. "You're insatiable."

"No, I just have a current addiction to a certain dragoness, that's all." He lightly ran his still-sharp claws over her back, hearing her hiss in pleasure. He started growing hard once again inside her and started moving gently.

"I suppose an all-nighter wouldn't be—ah— too bad. But what happens if we have to head out for the mission in the morning?"

He sighed at the thought. "You give a valid point." He gave a particularly hard stroke, making her gasp as he continued on. "We should probably stop now and get some sleep."

She moaned before she answered. "I didn't say that."

"You basically did." He pulled out all the way and she actually let out a whimper. "You really want this that badly?" When she nodded, he pushed her to her back and plunged back in, unable to suppress the moan he gave when he did so. "What is it about you that makes me feel lighter?"

"My unique characteristics and charm?" She leaned up and licked the tip of his nose, "Or the fact I care so much about making you and others around me happy before myself?"

As a further response, she tightened her walls around him, making him groan again. "Keep doing that, and I really won't let you sleep tonight."

She grinned playfully. "Bring it on then."


	18. Missions

18.

At some point in the night they had passed out, and didn't wake up until hours later. Sha woke first, finding herself curled up against him and resting her head on his chest, while his arm stayed wrapped securely around her form. The other was draped over his eyes, and as she grew more aware of how they had passed out, she found that one of her legs was pulled up and over his navel, while the other crooked around one of his. Instead of feeling bashful at the situation, she merely yawned and snuggled as close as she could to get more comfortable.

He smiled a bit without moving the arm over his eyes. "I take it you're awake."

"Mm," was the simple response she gave, falling still once more.

A sharp knock at his door startled them both, but they refused to move. "Who wants a death wish?" Hiei yelled at the door.

"I hate to disturb you," said Kurama on the other side of the barrier, "but one of Enki's messengers just left. We're giving everyone a few minutes to get a shower before we discuss a plan of action."

He felt like an ice cube had slipped into his belly. "All right, I'll be right out."

"Oh, and tell Sha I said 'good morning'."

The dragon buried her face out of view to hide her blush. "Will do." He waited a few more minutes for Kurama to leave the hall before he spoke again. "I got my shower last night if you want to get one."

She wrinkled her nose. "Yeah but you did that before all the sex."

"True. But that means you need one too."

"Nothing's stopping us from sharing the water." She got up out of his hold and went into the bathroom.

It took him a second before he understood what she said and followed her. He leaned against the doorframe and watched as she adjusted the temperature and stepped under the stream, cleaning off last night's encounter.

She took notice to his staring. "Like what you see?"

"Very much so." He got in behind her and put his arms around her hips.

"You've seemed sad for awhile now. What's wrong?"

He rested his chin against her shoulder. "Not sad. I can't really label it." _Liar, you know exactly what it is._

She turned around in his embrace and leaned into him. "I don't want to finish this mission…"

His nerves jolted. "Why not? As you said, the end of the mission isn't a goodbye for us."

"I know. But, we'll have no way to communicate to each other. I have a phone at home, but I don't know what you'll do during the day."

To this he grinned. _"That's what telepathic communication is for."_

She stared at him. "Well yes, there's that. But it is a bit intrusive on privacy." With a sigh she leaned her head on his chest.

They stood in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the company and feeling the water wash away the night prior.

"Did you mean what you asked last night?"

"Hm?"

"When you asked me to mate with you."

"I half did."

"Half?"

"It slipped out. At the time, I was thinking that I'd never get to see you again after this was all over."He looked away. "Though I'm just being stupid." He moved to leave the shower.

"You fear the empty feeling."

Hiei stopped dead in his tracks.

"You and I are a lot alike. That's shown itself many times already. You're afraid of losing the light you've found, aren't you?"

He got out of the shower. "We need to get out of here. They'll wonder where we are."

She growled and turned off the water before standing in front of him in the bedroom, dripping on the wood floors. "Why won't you answer me?"

He rolled his eyes. "You really want to know?" When she nodded, he sighed. "I'm not looking forward to the end of today because of that. But there's nothing we can do about it." He tugged his pants on over his wet legs before heading to the door.

"I will!"

He paused and looked back at her still dripping form. "What?"

"I-I will mate with you." She folded her arms nervously. "Though we'll need a time where we can have those few hours alone."

His breath hitched in his throat. "You know what that means for us, don't you?"

"Of course."

"And that what we're feeling now could simply just be us wanting a release."

She shook her head. "It doesn't feel like a simple infatuation."

_She is right. I've never felt like this before._ "You'd be willing to do this with someone like me?"

Sha smiled. "You're not as much of a badass as you let on to other people. So yes."

He nodded and put on his shirt that was lying near the door. "Then when the time is right." He tucked the shirt into his belts. "I'm going to go find Yusuke and Kurama. I'll see you in a bit."

* * *

He didn't have to look far to find them, also with Salem, out on the deck. The snow had melted and the weather was back to being comfortable. Yusuke grinned up at the fire demon the instant he closed the glass door behind him.

"So what's the status now?" he asked while Hiei sat at the table with them. "Hyouga said if we went down that hall last night that she'd skewer us with an ice lance."

"She agreed to mate with me," he said, staring at nothing in particular. "This morning, so it didn't happen yet."

Kurama and Salem stared in bewilderment, though Yusuke started laughing. "How did that question come up?"

"Spur of the moment last night. I thought we had brushed it off, but she answered."

"And so that's it? You're just gonna bite her and nothing more?"

Hiei arched a brow. "That's all that's ever to mating. The intake of the female's blood, and sex to seal it."

"That's not what I'm getting at. Don't you want to do something more than that?"

Kurama shook his head. "I know what you're trying to suggest, but—"

"What, that human bonding?" Hiei asked. "The one your mother did recently."

"Yes. It's not uncommon nowadays in Demon World, what with all the changes that have been happening. It's still just as expensive though."

"How expensive though? And how different is it?"

Kurama looked a bit surprised at the questions. "Well it really depends on what you do, how many show up, where you have it. As for differences—"

"From what I've seen here," Yusuke interrupted, "is that it's similar. I know what you do in mating rituals, and that's getting as close to your partner as you can. I mean sealing them to you? There's nothing closer. Weddings, it's more like a trial for the two. Brings them closer, you know?"

Salem smiled. "That's coming from someone who's just started planning."

"No, it's coming from someone whose girlfriend is doing the planning. I'm watching." Yusuke grasped the bottle of beer in front of him and took a swig. "I just got the ring, got on one knee, and asked her to marry me. From there on out, it's all her." He shrugged. "But that's just me. It's something to put thought into."

They didn't get to put any more into their conversation before the girls came outside.

"All right, so what's the news?" Sukuna asked.

Kurama flipped open a manila folder that had been sitting on the wood table. "From what they found, the portal to Human World where the disappearances are happening is located directly under the monitored one. Past the portal, there are four tunnels."

"So wait," Kistu asked, looking over his shoulder and placing her finger on the hand-drawn map, "there's more to it than just the portal?"

"Yes. It seems that the missing humans are still missing, and the scouts couldn't check all the tunnels."

"What's our plan of action?"

"We'll split into teams of two when we get past the portal," Yusuke said, pulling out four pocket communicators and putting them on the table. "We'll use those to keep in contact, in case one of us finds something."

Hyouga picked one up and looked at it. "Should I also powder my nose with it?"

"If you like," Kurama answered. He pointed to the drawn tunnel on the far left. "From left to right, it'll be me and Kitsu, next is Yusuke and Sukuna, Salem and Hyouga, and Hiei, you and Sha will take the far right."

Hiei could've sworn he saw the fox wink at him. "When are we doing this?"

"Now, if everyone is ready."

"Just have to grab our weapons, I think," Sha said, pointing a thumb over her shoulder towards the house. "So if five minutes wouldn't stall us…"

Kurama nodded. "Ten more minutes to grab weapons, and then we're heading out."

Near all of them left to gather up their arsenal, leaving Kurama and Yusuke still outside.

"Think he'll do it?" Yusuke asked with a grin.

"He might." Kurama rubbed at his chin with a thoughtful smile. "He's been making a lot of interesting changes lately. Should we take him into the city tomorrow morning when we wrap this case up?"

"Of course. Though we may not even have to, if he does decide to do this."

"Are we starting up another betting pool for this?"

Yusuke burst out laughing. "You just want another chance to win some money." He took another swig of beer. "Though now that I think of it, what's going on with you and Kitsu? You two have been disappearing an awful lot."

"She's interesting, I'll admit it. We've been hitting it off well. We're probably going to start dating, when all this is taken care of, of course."

"Ah, love is in the air." He frowned. "Or did a skunk just go by?"

Kurama laughed. "Let's get this mission over with."


	19. Cave

19.

They set out ten minutes later, with Sukuna and Hyouga snatching Sha by the arms and pulling her up front to have serious girl-talk time. By the color her face was turning, all the questions were personal, and most likely had to do with that night prior.

Kurama and Kitsu followed behind them, instantly striking up a friendly conversation. Yusuke and Hiei were behind them, remaining silent for the time being, while Salem acted as the rear guard.

Yusuke waited a bit to start up a conversation. "About what we said earlier, the thing Kurama's mother did, would you really be willing to do that?"

"What business of it is yours?" Hiei asked, though more calmly than he normally would have sounded.

Yusuke just grinned. "She must be something else, if you can't even get mad enough to deal out one of your snide remarks with the venom in the voice." He looked up at the trio in front, seeing Sha slink down a bit as they kept walking, as if trying to melt into the floor to get away. "Though gotta say, not really my type. Too short, and her chest is a size or two too small."

Hiei rolled his eyes. "Not that it's any business of yours, but that's what you prefer, not me."

"Ah so you do have a type! Guess small chests are your thing, huh?"

Hiei sighed at the obvious prodding and gave the blunt answer he knew Yusuke was looking for. "Anymore than a handful would be a waste, Detective." He arched a brow. "Though why are you still harassing me about her? We both made our moves, so what more information would you like to attempt to beat out of me?"

"My intentions are good, for once." He gave his trademark grin. "But I can answer any and all questions you have on, ah, human customs.

With his interest finally caught, the two continued on with their conversation, while Sha was still trying to get out of her own.

"I'm telling you, I'm not repeating anything he said during the game." Sha put a hand to her forehead. "Classified information, end of story."

"Aw, you're no fun," Sukuna pouted.

Hyouga just kept grinning. "All right, then you can at least tell us how he is in bed."

If she could have, Sha would have sunk into the ground just to disappear. "You don't see me asking you how good Salem is!" she hissed at her.

"Oh, well he's got this amazing move—"

"I don't want to know!"She lowered her voice again. "Look, this is getting a bit fast-paced, but I don't want to start spilling the beans about the first night."

Sukuna looked a bit surprised. "Wait, first night? This will be a permanent thing?"

Sha hesitated a bit. "You guys are my friends, so I guess I can tell you. I… I agreed to mate with him."

Hyouga almost tripped over an upraised tree root from not paying attention. "You what!"

Sha hushed her. "Keep your voice down!"She sighed. "It was a spur-of-the-moment thing, but it feels right. Though at the same time, it feels like there could be something more that could be done along with the mating."

"You could marry the guy," Sukuna said with a shrug.

"It's a thought, but that's a whole other ballpark, and he would yet again have to ask me." She shook her head. "It'd be odd for a female to ask that. In my opinion anyway. And I don't know if he'd be the type of guy who wants a wife. He'd be just as happy with a mate, and that's it."

"But you haven't really known him long enough to determine that."

"Regardless, that still wouldn't be up to me." She lifted her head up a bit and slowed her pace. "What's that sound, coming from ahead of us?"

"Don't try changing the—"

Hyouga raised up a hand to silence their comrade and her ears swiveled forward towards the sound. "Sounds and smells like water."

"Then we're getting close," Kurama said as he and the others got closer. "The entrance to the cave is behind a small waterfall, in a cove up ahead."

"Oh joy, we get an extra shower. Great." Kitsu rolled her eyes, but kept up her pace. "Well then let's get this over with."

They ceased their voices as they continued on towards the sound of rushing water, until the falls were in sight. The waterfall wasn't very high, maybe only eight or nine feet, and it emptied out into a large pond. From the pond, the water trickled out down a small stream, heading into the woods and out of sight. It would have been beautiful, if under other circumstances.

Hyouga growled low in her throat as a warning.

"Should I ask what's wrong, Lassie?" Sukuna asked in a whisper.

"I smell blood."

Sha looked at her, surprised. "I don't smell anything but the water."

"You don't have a canine's heightened senses," Kitsu said, her face in a slight grimace. "Even your demon senses can't pick up on this. I suspect only three of us can smell it."

Kurama gave a confirmation nod. "From here on out, we must remain silent. No whispers, no gasps, nothing until we reach the portal."

Each nodded in agreement as they filed into a line, with Salem once again taking rear guard, and with Kurama up front. Silently, they inched their way behind the waterfall and into the cave, not seeing the small red lines form in the curtains of once-blue water.


	20. Portals

20.

They walked carefully for a half hour before they reached their first destination.

"Dammit, so there really was a hidden portal," Yusuke said in a whisper.

Sha walked all around it, inspecting it. Then she looked around the surrounding walls for any light sources that could give off the illusion of one. "It's solid. Whatever made this is on par with the SDF."

Yusuke stared at her. "That's not possible. Unless…" He looked at Kurama. "Has there been any reports of Itsuki running around out here lately?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, I'm afraid."

"From the Sensui case?" Sha asked.

Both males looked at her. "You know of that battle?" Kurama asked, bewildered. "I thought you were still in prison, at that time."

"Well I was. We all were." She gestured to the other females. "Since these nitwits dubbed me their leader— I don't see why— I took it upon myself to gather all the past case files that were dealt with by the former Spirit Detectives. Yours, Sensui's, and Kuroko's."

"That's… quite a bit of literature to go through."

"Yes, especially since I went through Kuroko's and Sensui's files first. So drab. Save for one. His last case ever. Then yours made me laugh so much I could hardly put those files down."

Hyouga couldn't help herself. "Due to the charming heroics of a certain member of—"

"As I was saying," Sha continued after hitting the half dog over the head, "your files were most interesting and humorous. Though that is how I know of Itsuki." She bit at her black thumbnail. "There's still been no trace of him since he vanished with Shinobu's corpse, which is just a bit freaky by the way."

"You're telling me," Yusuke said with a shudder.

"Regardless, if this isn't the work of Itsuki, or a member of the SDF, which I'm hoping to Enma it's not, then we have a bit of trouble on our hands."

"Especially if this one can conjure up another Dark Soul, just like Itsuki," Hiei added. "Then it'll be just a bit more trouble."

Kitsu picked up a small rock and aimed to throw it at the portal, but Kurama kept a hand on her wrist. "What's that for?"

"It could be monitored," Kurama said. "While it's always active, using it might trigger something."

"'Unauthorized access' ringing any bells?" Hyouga said, mimicking being beheaded with her thumb.

She dropped the rock. "Guess you're right."

"Hey, are these the tunnels we need to separate down?" Salem asked, out of sight.

They turned toward his voice to see the four entrances glaring ominously back. "Those would be the ones," Yusuke answered, stepping forward. "All right guys, communicators on. Phone in the instant you find anything suspicious. Don't take any unnecessary risks, you got me?"

Kurama smiled. "You're the one telling everyone to be cautious?"

"Yeah, thought it'd be a nice change."

Each duo turned on their communicators and left down their tunnels in silence. None of them saw the security cameras from their hidden locations near the cave roof, slowly following their disappearing forms.


	21. Breakthrough

21.

There's a sort of monotony to a dark and rough tunnel. So much so, that Sha felt like yelling out in frustration as the first hour passed.

"_There's no end to this," _Hiei said through his telepathy, so they could converse without making their presence known. Truth be told, he himself was growing impatient with the long tunnel, and was thinking of calling it quits.

"_We might be the unlucky ones who get the longest tunnel. Though if we're also the ones with the lucky winning door, we'll be in trouble with getting reinforcements." _

He grinned at that. _"Really think we'll need the backup?"_

"_It wouldn't hurt."_ She nodded up ahead at a break in the wall on the left side. _"Think it's a passageway?"_

"_Only one way to find out."_

They approached the break cautiously, only to find that it was a very narrow dead-end.

"_Well this has certainly been a waste of time."_ He didn't notice Sha narrow her eyes and continue down the hallway. _"Might as well call in our tunnel as a dud."_

"_Hiei! Get over here, you need to see this!"_

He didn't feel excitement come from her words. Instead, they were laced with fear. Frowning, he followed a small bend that the tunnel made. It started to arch up a bit into a hump, and from there he saw Sha kneeling, looking over a crack in the wall that let in a reddish hue of light.

"_The missing humans can be marked as missing for good."_

"_Why do you say that?"_ He knelt beside her and looked out the crack too, his eyes widening in surprise at the foul rotting odor that rose up past the crack.

"_They're all dead…"_

From the crack in the wall, they could see a small pit. That pit housed a growing hill of body parts, all in different stages of rotting. Some were fresh, still dripping blood, and others were already bones.

"_We're too late."_

"_Not yet we aren't. We need to call the others. That crevice in the wall will muffle our voices enough to not echo."_

She nodded in response, not able to tear her eyes away from the pile of parts. _"Why would they mutilate them all? There isn't a single whole body in the entire pit."_

"_There isn't a single demon part in there either. It's all human, judging by the structures." _He nudged her arm. _"Let's go."_

After another second she tore herself away from the sight and followed him back to the crevice. They hadn't really looked at it long enough to take in the size of the hole in the wall. It was only wide enough to comfortably fit one person, though long enough for two.

"_You still have the communicator, right?"_ she asked before they figured out how they were going to hide.

He caught on to her avoidance. _"Yeah. I can lean against the back wall and you go in after, if you want."_

She stared at him. _"What, and have my back exposed to whatever may or may not come down this path?"_

"_I wasn't suggesting you face me."_ He took the communicator out of his pocket and handed it to her before unsheathing his sword. _"Easier if I show you what I mean."_ He sat against the back wall, letting his legs fall apart and rest against the other barriers while he held the sword in front of him.

It took her a second but she caught on. She took her own sword and sheath from her belt and held it as she settled herself in between his legs facing the tunnel's path. Once she was comfortable, he held his sword in front of them both, ready to strike at a moment's notice, if needed. "I guess I'm making the call?" Sha asked in a hushed whisper.

"Not that my other hand is full, but it'd make it a little easier to get us both on the screen," Hiei answered simply. "That way they can be assured it's really us and not an imposter that's caught us."

"Ah, intuitive as always." She flipped up the top and paused with her finger over the button that would dial in their friends.

"Something wrong?"

"Whose brilliant idea was it to make these look like compact mirrors? Pink compact mirrors. This was only featured in Yusuke's detective kit, not ours."

"Botan's, so far as I know."

Sha caught a laugh before it escaped, emitting a sharp breath out her nose. "Figures." She pressed the button and after a few seconds, three-fourths of the top screen was taken up by the six others.

"Has something come up?" Kurama asked.

"It'll take awhile, but you must come down our tunnel. It's a straight-way, so you won't get lost, but we've found the missing humans," she answered.

Yusuke let out a laugh of relief. "Great. What condition are they in?"

"They're dead," Hiei answered sharply.

The communicator was the only source of noise for a brief moment.

Hyouga was the first to break it. "Sha, you know—"

"I know what the laws are," the half dragon responded. "Demons are forbidden to partake of human flesh. That's why Enki's asked Yusuke to help humanize the main cities and give us other sources of food." She shook her head. "But that won't stop everyone. Especially those who are not by the cities."

"What's more important are the remains of the corpses," Hiei added in.

"What do you mean?" Yusuke asked. "Remains? They aren't whole?"

By the way the screens were moving on theirs, the others had started to move. "There isn't a whole body in the pile."

"And it's a pretty damn big pile to begin with," Sha said.

"Oh how sweet, they're even finishing each other's sentences," Sukuna teased.

Sha growled. "_Virse, io-ne!_ Now's not the time!" she hissed through her teeth.

"Back on our topic," Kurama said, "what are you two talking about?"

"All the bodies were in pieces. Limbs, organs, torsos cut open in a Y-incision… it's horrible," Sha said, taking a breath to steady her nerves. "But what is the motive?"

On Kurama's screen, the communicator faced the wall for a second before focusing on Kitsu. "Sha, could our suspects be Collectors?"

Sha frowned. "It's possible. … Hell, more than that, it's probably what's going on here. But why collect human parts and not demon?"

"The human black market," Hiei muttered.

Sha tilted her head back. "What did you say?"

"The human black market pays very well for things abnormal like that. Human World hospitals are always looking for organs for dying patients, no?"

"Well yes. But… the demons are helping?"

"In a sick and twisted way, yes if that's the case." He shook his head. "Think of it, black market and off the record human kidneys can go for $10,000 each. That's a good reason right there to do this." She was about to say something but he continued on. "But, that's only a theory. Why kill en masse, and why do it in Demon World, where they risk death just as they would there?"

"It's easier to slip away," Sukuna said. "Although I don't think that's the ultimatum either."

"We'll have to look more into it when we get there," Yusuke said off-screen on their communicator. "Until then, sit tight, we'll get there as fast as we can."

Sha nodded. "Keep your eyes open for a crevice in the wall. We're hiding there for now. Beyond us is a crack in the wall that faces the pit."

Kitsu nodded. "Stay there. We'll be there as soon as we can."

Each one of the screens went blank and Sha closed theirs, emitting a soft sigh and even softer hiss of discomfort.

"Is something wrong?"

She smiled a bit, glancing over her shoulder. "Just a little sore from last night is all." She pulled her tail tighter around her body to make sure it wasn't an annoyance to him.

He grinned right back. "Can't expect me to not be rough with you."

"Ah well. It'll fade. More importantly, we'll be here for a little while. I figure they'll all be running, cutting the hour we took down to a half hour. But…"

"But even so, it'll still be an hour wait, since they need to take the path back to get to us. So the question at hand is what do we do for that hour?"

She shrugged. "I could blow you."

He stared at her, in shock at her bluntness as she muffled a spat of giggles. "What?"

"I was kidding," she said around her laughs. "Don't look so surprised and excited."

"I didn't expect you were serious."

"Ah, then your scabbard magically moved to your crotch without the help of your hands?"

"I've told you already, I have no control over that when it chooses to react." He clenched his jaws. "Dammit, woman, you'll drive me insane."

She smiled. "Glad to hear it." She fiddled with her tail that she had pulled into her lap. "But we really should figure out how to keep ourselves entertained for an hour."

"Hell if I really know." He closed his eyes and rested his head against the wall behind him but still kept his sword at the ready.

She thought back to her earlier discussion with her friends and flushed a bit. "Odd question, but what do you think about human customs?"

He opened one eye into a slit. "Most are idiotic. Celebrations of mortality, days where the male has to proclaim his love for his female or else he's punished. The rejoicing of the rising of a supposed savior with the symbols of rabbits and eggs." He paused. "But, I suppose they have a few things going for them."

"Like?"

"Halloween, for one."

She laughed softly. "Though theirs is slightly different than ours."

"Of course. Halloween is sacred for us while for them it's an excuse for preteens to dress like whores and get candy for it."

"It's also the demon equivalent of their Valentine's Day," she said with a blush.

"I've had no reason to think of it that way." He closed the eye again. "Their version of mating isn't a horrible idea either."

She felt her nerves jolt. "Oh? How so?"

"While it's pricey, and takes a long time to do, the end result seems to be worth it." He chuckled, knowing that was precisely what she wanted to hear. "What about you? You've spent more time in a lot of other countries in Human World. I suspect you'd know first-hand about what a lot of their customs pertain."

"There's the ones you listed, to which I agree with each of them. Then there's the pointless drinking holidays. Cinco de mayo, America's Superbowl Sunday, Mardi Gras, the list goes on."

His brows arched a bit, though he continued to keep his eyes closed. It was easier to feel out energies that way. "You've gone to Mardi Gras?"

"Yeah, we had a case in New Orleans around that time. It was a little one, so we were granted permission to stay for the festivities."

"I suspect you had a really fun time."

"Yeah, got a lot of beads too." He growled, making her laugh again. "I'm kidding. I admit, I got plastered, but the girls stayed in my shirt. Sukuna wasn't so lucky."

Hiei couldn't keep his eyes closed after that little picture. "You had to say it, didn't you?"

"Mhm. So she won in free beads. She paid for it in a hangover from hell the next day." She fidgeted a bit. "Though do you think I can get up for a sec and get some blood flowing back in my legs?"

He moved his sword to let her get up, and she used the wall for support. Though as she leaned on a certain spot, the area under her hand gave way.

"What the hell?"

Without warning, the wall behind him slid aside, almost making him fall backward. "I think you might have found a clue."

"No shit, Sherlock," Sha retorted sarcastically. "Thing is, what does the clue contain?"

He put a finger to his lips. _"Just in case, no more talking out loud."_

She nodded and put her sword sheathe back in her belt, holding her rapier at the ready. _"Should we check it out?"_

"_Yes, though cautiously."_

The newly opened passageway led to a steep spiral staircase, leading downward. _"Don't need to tell me twice."_

They started down the stairs, but didn't make it very far. The entrance slammed shut and stairs suddenly shifted into a chute, sending them both sliding all the way down. They met the hard stone ground a minute later, both letting out a small grunt of pain.

"Well that could've been more fun," she said, rising to her feet and rubbing at her lower back. "Like the ones at carnivals."

He rose too. "Guess we found the entrance to the pit."

She looked out where his gaze had focused and put a hand to her mouth.

All the pieces were human all right. But the creature they saw emerging from a tunnel on the far wall certainly wasn't.


	22. Surprises

22.

Hiei narrowed his eyes towards the figure entering the pit, trying to pinpoint the demon's origins. He felt Sha take a step back and glanced at her. He felt a shock go through him at her expression. "What's wrong?"

Her eyes were wide with fear. Not even fear, sheer terror. Her voice came out in short tremors, barely an audible whisper. "N-no. He's not— That— Oh gods, this isn't happening."

The demon grinned at the two, showing off two full rows of sharp, jagged teeth. His skin was a mottled green, and he towered over the both of them in height. His legs bent back at the knees, and horns protruded from his forehead. "I'm afraid you've stumbled upon your last treasures, Dragon."

Sha's voice caught in her throat a few tries. "Y-you can't be— You died! I—"

The demon grinned wider, giving him a mad-sort of look. "Ah yes, the old 'cut off its head and it'll die' routine." He spread his arms to the side and pointed towards his neck. "Way to go with that clean cut swipe attempt." He swept an extended thumb across his neck in an imitation. "You might want to 'cut it down' to one swing instead of thirteen."

Her legs shook, making her brace herself and hold her sword in front of her. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind next time."

Hiei held back his confusion, preparing to launch the dragon at a moment's notice. That was when he felt a crackle of her own energy flaring up. "Who is this asshole?" he muttered.

"Remember when I told you I stopped killing after that certain demon was put down?" She sucked in a hissing breath. "Looks like I didn't finish the job all those years ago."

The demon crossed his arms over his bared barrel chest. "Ironic how you of all people are here to stop the plan. It seems luck is in my favor."

"Not for long," Hiei said and stepped forward, though Sha extended a hand in front of him.

Her action seemed to be on brave reflex, but she swallowed hard. "No. This is my mess to clean up."

"Why are you so afraid of him?"

"I am not the strongest of my detective group. Hyouga always was able to hold her own better as well. She was able to beat most of the fight out of him before she was knocked out and I took over." She swallowed again and a nervous shudder made her voice shake. "I barely survived that." She shook her head to clear it. "I hope you understand. I don't want you helping. Not unless I am unable to fight any further."

"I'm supposed to translate that to what?"

"I'll either be dead or knocked out." She started walking forward towards her opponent, who dropped into a fighting stance, claws extended. "More than likely, dead."

He took a few long strides to catch up to her, stopping her with a hand on her arm. "This is suicide!"

She smiled weakly. "Don't make this harder than it already is. Please."

The demon's eyes widened for a second, but settled back into an amused gaze. "I see. So will I have the pleasure of taking another loved one from your life? Just as I did to the first?"

Sha tensed before glaring in response. "No. Never again." She tugged out of Hiei's grip and continued to stand in front of the demon, taking an opening stance with her sword. "Whether I die or live, I don't care. So long as you're dead my soul can rest."

Hiei stood back, amazed at her bravado. She was so terrified, but she was able to stand strong. He saw himself, standing in her position barely three years ago, staring down Shigure. Ready to die to end it. Nothing more to live for. But in the past week, that outlook had been changing. "You do have something to live for now," he murmured under his breath, but stood his ground as she made her first move.

* * *

The others stopped short as two short rings sounded out from Hyouga's pants pocket, quickly followed by another two short bursts. She tugged a more advanced-looking communicator from her pocket, a black and purple one, and flipped the top. "Hyouga."

"Hyouga, is the team with you?" the stressed voice of Koenma said from the screen, his face looking pressed for time.

"Three out of four of us, why?"

"And I can only guess who's missing," Koenma said with a slight worried strain to his voice.

Hyouga held up a hand and they stopped running. She narrowed her eyes. "Koenma, what's going on?"

"We've finally got a full file on the details of this case."

"Way to go, Toddler-breath!" Yusuke yelled. "You haven't changed a bit; send the detective in first, find out details later."

"You haven't changed at all either, Yusuke," Koenma shot back. "You know this is protocol for an emergency!"

Yusuke snatched the communicator from Hyouga's grasp with a small yelp of protest from her. "We sat around for four damn days doing nothing at all! How is that an emergency where you need to send the team in to their death!"

Koenma stayed silent for a second before clearing his throat. "It was listed as high priority. So because of that, we don't have time to take chances with researching each threat in detail before we send them out." He rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "There's nothing we can do but let them investigate while we get details behind the scenes. Which, thank you very much, is part of my job."

Sukuna took the communicator. "What do you have for us?"

Koenma's face vanished into a screen that he must've projected from his TV. The image of a man in an immaculate suit showed, a smug look on his face. "It seems we still have a big gambler on our hands."

"Whoa hold the phone!" Hyouga yelled as she took the communicator again. "All of the Black Black club was killed over four years ago! All of them were present in that room when Sakyo gave Toguro the word, that's what was reported. Then when Yusuke won, he offed himself. That should've been all of them!"

"It seems this one had other plans to put into motion, and only needed the club's influence to make it happen." Images of humans in different stages of disembowelment and dismemberment appeared in a slideshow on the screen, and ended in a graphic video of the process. "The video was taken yesterday evening, and was processed this morning. The images were gathered over the past two days and processed at the same time."

"Do we have a motive?"

"He's selling the parts and limbs, in a few places."

"Not just the human black market in place of organ donors?" Kitsu asked. "That was our first guess."

"That's one of them. He's also selling them on the demon black market too."

Sukuna arched a brow. "What, with Enki's laws in place? No mischief in human world, alternate food sources, hell, even schools for our children, and here's a fuck trying to sell human parts to our kind? For what reasons? Human parts aren't compatible for demon replacements."

"No. He's selling them as food to those demons who can't change. The parts are also being used for something else."

Kurama narrowed his eyes. "What else is there?"

"A perfect army."

The others fell silent.

"The parts are being sold at high prices on the human black market for armies for governments all over the world. So far, it's a new project, only been in development for the past ten months. If we can shut this organization down, we can stop the project before it gets out of hand."

"Who are all the targets?" Hyouga asked.

"The Black Black Club member is Simon Valdez. He's enlisted the aid of a demon bodyguard, and a surgeon." The bust of a dark blue-skinned demon came on the screen. He had a long snout, with his lower teeth protruding upwards just over the bridge of his nose. A pair of glasses was held on his face by elastic ties around his rounded ears. "The surgeon goes by Cutthroat. He spent most of his life studying human anatomy and knows exactly what he's doing." He brought up the next image and Hyouga let out a yelp, nearly dropping the communicator.

"What is it?" Salem asked with concern.

"Yes, I knew you'd recognize him," Koenma added, his voice quiet.

"H-how is he still alive!" Hyouga shook her head and swallowed her fear. "I beat him within an inch of his life and Sha took over when I passed out. She cut his head right from his shoulders. he should be dead."

"Should be, until Cutthroat found him." Koenma clasped his hands together on his desk. "Now I must ask, where is Sha?"


	23. Familiar Face

23.

Sha's back hit the wall hard with all the grace of a ton of bricks. A small spurt of blood erupted from her mouth at impact as she bounced off the stones and knelt on the floor. By then she had accumulated a fair few amount of deep cuts that were still bleeding freely, but she had no time or energy to waste on healing them. Large portions of her clothing were missing now from being torn off, and a deep cut on her forehead bled into her left eye.

The demon stepped forward, still grinning as he had been before. "Had enough yet, little dragon?"

She chuckled a bit and drove her rapier into the ground for support to get back to her feet. "I see I haven't made a dent in you, yet you've been using me to make dents in the walls. I also see physical attacks won't do much damage." A slash she had made across his chest vanished before her eyes. "You aren't the same demon as before, so I suppose it's time I got out of play mode."

He frowned. "Play mode? You mean all the strength you were putting into your blows was playing?" He smiled smugly. "If so, you hit like a girl even while playing."

She grinned right back. "I'm not supposed to hit like a man. Bad for my image and all." Her energy crackled around her in black waves as she stood up straighter and locked her ankles together. She spread her arms out and extended her taloned fingers, calling black fire to them. "Blades of Fire!" She leapt up with new-found speed and hacked at the demon with the added effect of the fire blades on her fingertips.

"Oh, some new talents than from last time." He avoided her last attack as the blades wore off and caught her by the throat, holding her an arm's length away. "But it still has the same outcome."

She laughed as best she could through his hold. "Right where I want you." She took a deep inhale and ignited the carbon dioxide she exhaled, spraying flames right into his face. This caused him to scream in surprise and let her go while he rubbed at his now scalding eyes. "I may not have all the perks of my dragon heritage, but I have plenty of fire spells to make up for it!" Not letting him regain his composure, she summoned a ball of black fire to her hand and shot it towards him.

The last thing she remembered was impact, and then blackness.

The demon had vanished before her and appeared behind her person, sending her flying back into far the wall and hitting her skull hard against a rock.

He grinned and started walking towards her, stalking his prey. "Why is it you still choose to fight me? All the while knowing you can't possibly win. Do you think it will really bring him back?"

Hiei had been sitting off to the side watching as she told him to do, but now stood, fists clenched as she didn't get back up. "Why aren't you…?"

The demon yanked her rapier out of the ground and continued towards her. "This would've been so much easier if you would have submitted like a good little girl all those years ago." He stopped right before her figure. "He didn't need to die that day. He was only trying to protect a wench who failed at being a thief."

All the while she still hadn't moved.

"Seems this will end up being an even simpler kill than I thought. Oh well." He raised her rapier about to strike. "I'll reunite you with your past lover!"

Just as he brought the sword down in a final swing, it was blocked by another sword. "I cannot stand aside any longer and watch this play out," Hiei said with a sneer, holding the blade off.

The demon snorted. "You'd protect her with your own life?"

He was silent before he said, "That is one of the duties I will have to fulfill very soon." He put more power behind his swing and threw the demon back a foot. "I'd always question the motives of humans who would willingly throw their lives aside for others without hesitation." He narrowed his eyes and stood in an opening stance. "So come at me and we'll see how much I've come to understand that ridiculous concept."

The demon smirked as Hiei's energy crackled around him. "As you wish." In the blink of an eye he vanished, reappearing before the fire demon mid-slash.

He just as quickly dodged, preparing to send the dragon after him. The demon's speed caught him off-guard as he was slashed across the chest. He pulled back just enough to make the gashes shallow instead of life-threatening, but the concentration he had on summoning the dragon broke. He wasn't given time to try again as the demon let out a flurry of blows, each managing to nick him on both his legs, an upper arm, across the face, and another on his chest.

The demon backed off just long enough to laugh before he started in again. "You honestly think you're faster than me? What possibly gave you that idea?" His claws snatched up a handful of Hiei's shirt and tossed him into the same wall that Sha lay unconscious next to.

He managed to catch himself just before impact, pushing off from the wall and bracing himself for another hit, watching as the demon came closer.

A sudden bright light made the demon's eyes widen. "What sort of trickery is this?" Without warning, the light pushed him back with enough force to slam him into the closest stone wall.

"So it's you who's been tugging at my woman's heartstrings. How've you been, Half-breed?"

Hiei stared at the glow that had emitted the lightly accented voice he hadn't heard in ages. "You mean to tell me—"

The light faded to show a tall figure, mostly translucent. A black tail similar to Sha's swung behind him and a grin plastered itself on his face. "It really is a small world, huh?"

Hiei stood still, too shocked for words.

The dragon before him sighed. "I know I have a lot of explaining to do in a short amount of time." He pointed towards the unconscious female. "A year after you left, we found her roaming the forest. She was still young, but her mind had matured already. Boss-man took her in, and so history started from there."

"_You_ were the one that mated with her?" He shook his head. "Sven, you were one of our best. How did you die?"

Sven's translucent face fell. "One by one we were picked off. Bounty hunters, then human spirit detectives. I… tried to protect her, but…" He sighed. "Thank the darkness she was only captured instead of sharing our fate." He jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the knocked-out demon. "This one here, he was a bounty hunter. Name was Klaus. His target was only me, and he got me. And I fully intend to pay him back. With interest."

Hiei narrowed his eyes. "And how will you do that in your state?"

Sven smiled sadly. "Demons like him can't be possessed by pure spirits without decaying." He looked back to Sha with a look of longing. "It's your turn to protect her. Get her out of here while finish this guy off."

The fire demon was about to protest until he saw something shine at the corner of Sven's eye. Instead, he nodded. "Thank you for this chance."

Sven nodded and made his way to the demon. He stopped mid-pace and said, "Don't let this chance go. There is a lot of good changes in your future." With a final wave, he sank into the demon.

Almost immediately, Klaus let out a blood-curdling scream as he leapt up and began tearing at his flesh. "What's going on? My body— My skin!"

Before Hiei's eyes, the demon's skin began to bubble and burst. Without waiting to stick around to see the finale, he picked Sha up just as the smell of rotting corpse penetrated his nose. He didn't look back as he took off down the hallway Klaus had originally came from. Once a good hundred yards away he slowed his pace enough to look her over. Blood was still seeping from a few wounds and her skin was getting paler. "You're not dying on me that easily." With a bit of concentration, he focused his energy over her deep wounds and made his normally destructive force into one of healing.

The wounds began to heal up, though not as quickly as it would have had he had more practice at the arts of healing.

A mass of heavy footfalls coming from the direction they just came from made him pull his sword out of its sheath and focus on the noises. He relaxed as he felt the energies of their comrades come closer. "Where are you guys?" Hyouga's voice shouted.

"Back this way a bit!" he called back to them. Sha coughed a few times, bringing his attention back down to where he had her resting on his legs. "You scared me half to death, you know that?"

She smiled weakly. "'Always finish what you start.' That's what Papa always taught me." She tried to sit up, only to be hit with a dizzy spell. "Okay, that was a bad idea."

"You lost quite a bit of blood. I sealed up most of the really deep cuts you had."

She was about to thank him when their friends came around the bend. Hyouga was the first one forward. "Shakaku Daela Fanelia you idiot!"

Sha flinched but otherwise didn't get up from her laying position. "I know, cry me a damn river, but what was I supposed to do?"

"Your father would have me skewered if you got killed. Where are your injures?" Hyouga knelt by her friend, only to look on in shock as she discovered that the places covered in blood had no wounds. "You couldn't possibly have healed all those with what energy you have left coming out of you."

"I healed them," Hiei said, drawing odd looks from the guys.

Hyouga didn't seem to notice while she finished her inspection. "Well, you've got a few shallow scrapes left, but nothing life threatening. All the bleeding has stopped." She looked to Hiei. "Thank you for saving her. You must be a very strong warrior to have done what we saw to Klaus."

He knew she wouldn't believe what had really happened. Instead he said, "She killed off most of him before she was knocked unconscious. I just respected her wishes and didn't step in until then."

Hyouga pursed her lips, doubt obvious on her face. "You look like you got pretty banged up too." She looked over to Kurama. "Think you can piggyback her for awhile? I'll heal up his gashes so he doesn't bleed out on us."

The fire demon wanted to protest, but a subtle pinch on his leg made him stop short.

"Consider it done." Kurama knelt by his cousin and helped her up onto his back. "You can't last a day without getting into some sort of trouble."

Sha hid her face in the crook of her arm. "Didn't have much choice in the matter."

"Just let us handle the rest of them," Yusuke said, thumbing his nose. "You two did good with the first one."

Salem smiled. "Six against two. Doesn't seem very fair."

"It's more than fair," Kitsu said. "Considering who we're dealing with, we'll still have a rough fight on our hands."

"All right, that should hold you together," Hyouga said as she stood back up and brushed her hands together. "Almost as good as super glue, just without the mess."

He planted his sword in the ground and heaved himself up.

"Don't tell me you need a ride too," Yusuke said with an arched brow.

"I'm fine, Detective," Hiei snapped, putting his sword back in his belts.

"I'm not the detective anymore. Your girlfriend is."

Hiei rolled his eyes. "Let's just get this over with." He started ahead of the others, Yusuke standing back in shock.

"You openly didn't deny that!"

"Shut up and move!"


	24. Escape

24.

The vast tunnel they had entered went on for another good twenty minutes. In that time, Hyouga filled in the other two on what information Koenma had gathered. "And so basically he withheld information from us again. Can you believe the nerve of that guy?"

Sha bit her lip. "No, I can understand why he'd want to hold off on letting us know. Instead of feeding us bits and pieces of information he didn't know were true or false, he waited until he could fit together the whole thing." She winced a bit from a sharp pain in her head. "Great, migraine incoming."

Kitsu snorted. "Doesn't surprise me, since your head wanted to meet Mr. Wall so badly."

"If I could I'd hit you right now."

"So Klaus' taken care of," Yusuke said, "and now we just have this Cutthroat guy. Anyone have any other info on him?"

Sha shook her head, though instantly regretted it. "Never heard of him before. Though I'm suspecting his skills would rival that of Dr. Kamiya."

Yusuke opened his mouth to comment, but closed it once more. "I keep forgetting you're more of an in depth detective than I ever was."

"I spent too much time in records both reading your files and watching the tapes Koenma recorded. As I said, all of your antics caught my attention. Some moreso than others." She caught Hiei's eye and smiled before anyone else saw. "Thing is, all I know is the info, not the fighting styles."

"You're not worrying about fighting for the rest of this mission," Kurama scolded while he tightened his hold on her to keep her from slipping down his back. "You're on your last bit of energy as it is."

"Yes, Mother."

"Is that light up ahead?" Sukuna asked.

Salem, who as a shadow elemental could see in the dark, said, "Yeah, looks like the entrance to another room. Just hoping it's the last."

Suddenly Hyouga stopped, holding out an arm to halt the others. Her ears pulled back and she growled.

Sha tried sniffing at the air, but nothing came up. "What's up ahead?"

"Blood. Fresh too. And running water."

"They're mixing…" Kitsu murmured. "Diluting the smell."

"I'm assuming that'd be Cutthroat," Yusuke said, pulling his energy into his trusty index finger and illuminating the hall.

"Be wise, Yusuke," Kurama said as they started again, slowly.

"C'mon, it's Yusuke here!" the young man replied with a cocky smile. He inhaled and yelled, "Cutthroat! Prep your ass for a thorough pounding, you son of a bitch!"

Hyouga and Kitso both winced and clapped a hand over their animal ears.

A sudden burst of laughter from the end of the hall rose up, causing a chill to go down Sha's spine. "Enter my domain then, and we'll see if you can back up those words."

"Gladly!" Yusuke leapt ahead of the others, running down the hallway.

"Don't be brash!" Kurama yelled after him, but sighed as he went out of earshot. "Hold on, Sha."

She tightened her grip around his neck as he and the other surged forward to meet their next opponent.

As they entered the dimly lit room, they got their first look of their new surroundings. Bloodied gurneys stood side by side along one wall, while a running stream flowed along the other side. The stones had been smoothed back and shelves lined the back wall, around a heavy iron door. Sha felt Kurama stagger a bit, most likely from the scent of decay that washed over them.

"Are you all right?"

"Nothing I can't handle," he murmured.

Kitsu pulled a blue water leaf flower from her tail, transforming it into a whip and holding it at the ready. Hyouga drew her sword from its hilt, as did Hiei, and Sukuna readied her nails, shimmering strands of webbing peaking from the passageways. Yusuke stood in front of them all, hands balled into fists, nails digging into his palms to distract him from the smell. "Cutthroat, I know you're here. Though as for why I can't smell you in here, I'm thinking that's because you smell like a corpse to begin with."

Deep, rasping chuckles came from the far corner, doused in darkness. "I'm not sure if I should be flattered or insulted, Detective. My spending time with my patients has left me with great experience under my belt."

Yusuke scoffed. "Patients? You mean victims."

"Call it what you justify calling it, but when they're put on my table, they're doing it willingly."

"Excuse me if I don't exactly believe you."

Cutthroat sighed and shuffled into the nearest light source, giving them a hideous sight of what he looked like below here the portrait of him had ended. His body was mangled with operation scars. A Y-incision covered his entire front, and his feet seemed to have been replaced with some sort of animal, giving his lower body the form of a satyr. "I assure you, they believe I can cure them." What looked like a coyote tail, which didn't suit his form at all, swayed slowly behind him. "They see a science miracle, and believe I was also reborn with the powers of healing." He snorted through his snout. "Humans are such foolish and gullible creatures."

"What… are you?"

"An anomaly. Believe it or not, I was once a human just like you." He narrowed his bright green eyes behind his glasses. "It's amazing what money can buy for a grave robber who wants to hit it big."

Kitsu stepped forward, lowering her whip. "The Black Black Club, they transformed you, didn't they? They forced you into this."

Cutthroat lowered his gaze. "You must understand that I died of natural causes and was quite at peace in the fields. I had been a good human, struck down in the prime of life while leaving the hospital after a life-saving operation."

"You can fight them."

"It's not that simple. You were born a demon, and you are free. I was reborn a demon—"

"And thus a slave," Sha finished quietly.

"Exactly that. I cannot disobey orders."

"There's one thing that I'm not buying with this whole act," Yusuke said, slamming a fist into his open palm. "Why don't you just off yourself if you're so damn torn up about tearing these 'gullible' humans to shreds, and having your master send them off for his own operations."

Cutthroat grinned. "Very observant, but not all true." He took a scalpel from behind his ear, holding it at the ready. "You see, this body they gave me loves to cut up bodies. It loves to mutilate and reek of decaying corpses. And in this situation, it is not mind over matter."

He held up his fist, allowing it to glow with his energy. "Well then allow me to release you from your guilt."

"Dying wasn't in my schedule for today. You on the other hand… the tables are open for a few more patients." He grinned.

"I have other plans for today, sorry. Shotgun!" He let off a blast towards the demon, who scraped by just in time. Operating tables and tool trays flew everywhere, causing sharp tools to cascade through the air. One managed to nick Hyouga across the head.

"Ai! That sprit energy of yours will be the death of us all Yusuke!" she yelled at him as she dodged a swipe from Cutthroat's scalpel. "Kurama, Hiei, get Sha the hell out of here!"

The guys didn't question her request as they left back down the hallway they came from, Sukuna slamming the iron door that had been opened for them shut. "They're clear."

Salem grinned. "Time to get messy then."

* * *

Despite her struggles, Kurama didn't stop running until they were a good halfway back up the tunnel.

"_Serite, _Kurama! I can't leave my friends back there! Put me down!" If she had had the strength to hold herself up, she would have been thumping at his back to get him to release her. "What if they need our help? We can't hear them this far back. Please, go back."

"Kurama," Hiei said, "put her down and help the others. I'll keep her here."

"You're not so hot yourself in the energy department," Kurama responded, keeping his grip on his cousin firm. "If someone were to discover you two here alone, you wouldn't be able to stop them."

"So says you."

"So says experience in knowing you. You'd resort to the dragon and kill the both of you in the process."

"If I were to do that first off, then you'd see Klaus in a pile of ashes." He pointed his sword down to where they had just come. "They need your help more than her and I do."

Kurama smiled. "The instinct to be the only protector is already getting this strong?"

Hiei stopped short on anything he was going to say next. "I don't know what the hell you're talking about."

"Then stop telling me to leave her in your protection while I go off to stand on the sidelines to watch a fight that is already evenly matched."

Sha huffed. "You boys do realize you're not the only ones present in this hallway, right?"

"Then what do you propose we do?" Hiei shot at her.

She looked a bit surprised, but answered regardless, "Kurama's right. We need all the protection we can get. Cutthroat isn't who he should be right now. His human mind is struggling for control over his demon one, in essence fighting a losing battle with himself. I have no energy left at all. I can't even form a ball of sight fire, let alone form an attack. You aren't at your peak either, from healing your own wounds, then the majority of my deep ones."

"But—"

"But nothing. If we were to go back in there now, we'd be suicidal. And I'm sure as hell that you're not about to kill yourself. Not now."

He fell silent once more, finally sheathing his sword.

Kurama chuckled and let her down, helping her sit against the rocks, but said nothing about the small bickering.

* * *

Kitsu let out a yelp as she ducked a scalpel swipe, knocking over another tray of utensils in her path. "Dammit Sukuna, grab him!"

"I can't! He keeps cutting through all the webs I shoot at him!" she said, dodging a rogue pair of forceps.

"Then use the steel ones, dumbass!"

Salem rolled his eyes and opened a void in the floor in front of Cutthroat, but the demon saw it in time and leapt over it. Salem was barely able to close it again as Hyouga leapt over a gurney and onto where it once was. "Watch it, Aisu!"

"I'm gonna pretend I never heard you say that here," she responded, flinging sharp ice petals after the demon, managing to nick a major artery. "Yes, direct hit!"

"It'll take more than that to knock me out!" Cutthroat yelled back, suturing his wounds shut with his energy. Though not before stopping a good pint of blood from spurting out.

"That's the only way. Long range attacks! Bleed him to death!"

Kitsu stopped running only to stare at her. "Hyouga, this man isn't in control of what he's doing," she said, gesturing to where Cutthroat was now doing hand-to-hand with Yusuke and Salem. "He could be helped."

Hyouga shook her head. "Rebirths cannot be saved. There are too many minds in that body now. The human one is only second strongest. His demon one is that of a lower class, a D-ranked beast that roams the Dead Earth area."

"The coyote cast-offs?"

Hyouga nodded, watching Yusuke give a hard right hook to Cutthroat's skull. "The legs and tail give it away. It's no wonder that pile of parts was so high. He would start the procedures as a normal being, but the scent would drive him into a haze, reverting his thinking. And that's exactly what his boss wants him to do."

Salem was able to get in a few punches as well, sending the demon to the ground. He was then able to use the shadows around him to secure him in place. "I've got him!"

Hyouga nodded. "You know what needs to be done."

Kitsu bit her lip. "There isn't another way?"

"I wish there was."

"In Sha's absence, I take your orders." Kitsu flicked her whip, activating the poisons that lay within the stem. "Yusuke, Salem, step aside."

"What are you going to do?" Yusuke demanded.

"My job," Kitsu shot back. "Just like any other rogue demon case we've had. He needs to be put down."

"Like hell he does; he's fighting a battle with himself, let alone with us!"

"And you're not the detective anymore. We have the job, we do what needs to be done."

"He's one of you guys—"

"He is nothing like us!"

Yusuke fell silent at her outburst, leaving the air still for a few seconds.

Cutthroat began to laugh. "She's correct, Yusuke. I'm not like them. I am a Rebirth, just as Klaus was."

"I'm not following."

"A Rebirth is someone who wasn't originally what they died as," Kitsu said quietly. "Cutthroat was once a human. He was exhumed, and his DNA was spliced with a lower class commonly found in Dead Earth. It wasn't poorly done though, I'll admit. Whoever did it had practice with demon splicing."

Cutthroat chuckled again. "You know quite a bit, for a fox."

"Foxes are sly creatures, known for their trickery. To be tricky, you need to be smart." She held the whip up. "I'm sorry it had to come to this."

"There has to be another way!" Yusuke interrupted.

Cutthroat merely clicked his tongue. "It's no wonder they fired you, Yusuke. Your naiveté and misplaced heroics still shine through. I want this. An escape."

"But from death?"

The demon smiled. "I was happy there before. We will see what my judgment will be when I am placed at the gates once more. Do it, Fox. I am prepared."

Kitsu nodded. "Yusuke, understand that morals in Demon World differ from that of Human World. You of all people should understand that by now."

He nodded, stepping out of the way and allowing her a clean strike.

"Salem, keep him steady."

"He's not budging," he replied, holding his hands extended before him and steady.

She took a deep breath, and brought the thorns down upon the demon's flesh, forcing the poisons to enter his system.

It took a full minute for the effects to show. The skin around the entry began to turn to ash and his breathing became ragged. "My master is… through those doors… He has bodyguards, but we were the only strong demons, ah, on his force." He tilted his head, coughing up a spatter of blood. "Stop him before the shipment is sent out."

Kitsu only nodded as she watched his body crumble into nothing.

"Sukuna," Hyouga said, not taking her eyes from the spot, "get the other three back in here so we can continue. I'm in charge the rest of the case while Sha is incapacitated."

"Got it," the spider said, leaving to gather the missing people in their party.

"And so now we finish this?" Salem asked.

"And hopefully go home to a comfortable bed." Hyouga nodded towards the door. "So let's end this overrated party and get the hell outta Dodge."


	25. Final Battle

25.

They ran the rest of the way, growing impatient with the long hallways Simon seemed to love so much.

"Remind me to give this guy two licks for his tunnel fetish," Sukuna huffed. "I mean, I know caves can be expansive, but this is a bit much."

Hyouga looked at her communicator. "It's getting on three o'clock. We set out at ten this morning."

"Five hours is nothing compared to some of the cases back in the day," Yusuke said. "Some would go on for days at a time even. And running through Maze Castle was no walk in the park either."

Salem narrowed his eyes. "There's a massive wall of demons up ahead. Easy lowlifes."

"You heard the man," Kitsu said while pulling her flower out once more. "Let's have us some fun!"

They each ran ahead, leaving Sha in Kurama's care still. "Yoko, let me down please."

"You're still in no condition to fight. Barely any of your energy has returned."

"That's not my intentions. You need to help them. Your and Kitsu's whips can take down a few more at a time than Hyouga's sword, and we need Yusuke to keep all his energy. That shotgun blast he did took a notch off his reserves. We all know he only has the three shots left if he doesn't revert to his demon energy." She bit at her lip. "It'll do everyone good to leave sooner."

Kurama nodded after a moment. "But you are not to aid the cause any further. Don't need you dying on us."

She smiled. "I have enough energy to keep me walking. By the time I catch up, you all will have them taken care of. Don't worry about me."

He allowed her to slide off his back. "Just be careful."

"Don't waste time."

He nodded once more and took off after the others, drawing his whip as he went.

Sha sighed and held a hand out to the wall to keep her balance. "And now to catch up without passing out in the process…"

* * *

By the time Kurama had caught up with the others in the large open area of the cave, they had broken through the first wave of demons, and a second was coming. "Thought you all could use some assistance."

"Right on time, Fox-boy," Yusuke said. His fists were glowing blue with his energy, and red tinges were starting to show in the center of it. "We'll need all the help we can get."

"Where is Sha?" Sukuna asked, seeing Hiei busy with his own mass of demons on him.

"She's not far behind. She insisted I come up and help." He flung the whip towards an incoming horde, stopping them instantly.

"Just don't let him find out," she said, nodding her head toward the fire demon. "Though no doubt he'll notice soon." She wrapped up two demons that were coming towards her with her webbing, causing them to trip over the threads. She twisted the webbing tightly over their airways, cutting off all forms of oxygen.

"There's no damn end to these fuckers," Salem yelled, sending a punch directly into the jaw of an incoming demon, snapping its neck cleanly. Then he opened a black pit beneath another wave, the shadows swallowing them instantly.

"Hey, good idea," Hyouga called over, throwing her latest grappling partner into the abyss.

"Yeah, but can't keep it open for long." As he said that, the pit vanished, leaving the floor exactly as it had been, nix the demons.

They didn't get to celebrate long before yet another wave came.

Hiei scoffed and threw his sword down on the ground. "The hell with this; everyone move out of the way if you don't want to die!" He held his arm out in front of him, preparing to launch the dragon.

No one found any time to argue as they stumbled out of the way just as the dragon screeched and leapt from his arm.

They watched on as the dragon seared every demon it touched to ashes, wondering why they hadn't thought of it before. "Good thing it's an open cavern in this bit," Sukuna said from her position on the floor.

The dragon had its fun while it could, devouring every rogue demon it came across until nothing was left but ashes. At its master's call, it returned to its dormant form settling back down happily to digest its spoils.

The others made sure no other waves were coming before getting up and retracting their weapons.

It was then that Hiei saw one member was missing. "Kurama, where is Sha?"

"I left her back down the hall to help per her request. She said she'd catch up."

"And you left her there alone? The hell is wrong with you?"

"I can take care of myself, thank you very much," a voice said from where they had come from. Sha leaned up against the mouth of the tunnel, a little short on breath. "I'm just not always wise on how I take care of myself."

He let out a breath of relieve without noticing it. "Do you have a death wish or something?"

"I guess you could say that." She squinted. "Why are there two of you?" Without even moving she physically swayed and held on to the wall. "And why is the room spinning?"

He rolled his eyes and went to hold her up. "You got clocked a bit harder than we thought."

She made an attempt to push him away, but ended up clinging on to his shirt instead. "Maybe. Just tell the world to stop rotating so fast."

With an amused chuckle, he bent down and helped her on his back. "I'll be sure to do that. Just keep your eyes closed for awhile."

"Yeah, I'll do that." She wrapped her arms around his neck and sighed in relief.

"She should go back," Yusuke said. "She can't help in this situation."

"We've been in worse conditions before," Kurama said, "and were still of some use." He looked at the two as they came back. "She just needs her second wind."

"Let's hope she gets it fast then," Hyouga said as her ears swiveled towards the far end of the dark cavern. Even with their good demon eyes they wouldn't be able to see that far. "Sounds like someone's coming in the direction that the demons had been. Two sets of footsteps."

Salem was the only one who could see that far. "No one's come down to the entrance yet, but I believe you."

They were blinded by a sudden and very bright light turning on and they each yelled in pain, shielding their eyes from taking any damage. After a second they recovered, blinking spots out of their vision, taking in the sight of the newly-lit cavern. Shipping crates lined a far corner, while a long shelf took up the part of the room to their left, housing jars, boxes, and climate-controlled crates. And each of those items weren't empty.

The sound of slow clapping came from the direction the demons had come from. "I applaud you for making it this far. I see Klaus and Cutthroat weren't enough to keep you entertained for as long as I would have liked."

"Show yourself, Valdez!" Yusuke yelled. "We're all tired of seeing your stupid lack of decorating! "

Simon merely chuckled as he entered the cavern. "Ah, Yusuke Urameshi. My colleagues had told me you were a loose cannon. Before they all died of course." Simon wore a similar suit to the one he had in his file, and his long black hair was tied back at the base of his neck. He pulled a cigarette from his mouth, his blue eyes shining in amusement.

Hyouga narrowed her eyes. "I know you from somewhere…"

Simon looked on in mild surprise. "Oh? Probably not me, but I did have a relative in the Black Black Club that showed me the ropes before he died. Helped me get started on an idea of my own, after showing me a certain little event sixteen years ago."

She took in a sharp breath. "Yeah, that's how I know you. Your brother taught you all about how demons worked, didn't he Simon?"

Yusuke looked at her. "Brother? You know which nut job he was related to?"

"The last name says it all, but I don't believe you were ever made privy to what Sakyo's full name was."

"Sakyo?" he exclaimed. "That can't be!"

Simon smiled. "All of his brothers, including myself, took on honest jobs, and suffered through them while he gambled his way into a small fortune. Instead of begging him for money like they did, I begged for a way in to his way of life." He took a deep drag from his cigarette before dropping it and stepping on it. "I left my wife, my job, and quickly took a high seat with him, doing my own things while the others gambled and peddled away demon flesh."

"Why are you doing this?" Hyouga demanded. "Why continue this on the sidelines while everyone around you was killed? Didn't you care at all about them?"

"My dear lady," Simon laughed, "we care about ourselves in the end. That's just the way we all are."

"That's a load of crap and you know it!"

They each looked to Sha, who had picked her head up and glared at the man.

Simon just merely shrugged and clapped twice. The second set of footsteps Hyouga had heard showed another man in a suit, presumably his servant, holding a tray with a syringe. "Then why don't you show me how little you think about your own lives?"

"Whoa, hold on there," Kitsu said. "What is that?"

"Do you really think I'd only let Cutthroat operate on Rebirths?" He grinned and readied the needle over his arm. "Why would I put so much time and money into this without saving some for myself?"

"No don't—"

He sank the needle into his flesh, the pump sending whatever was in the chamber into his blood stream. For a second, there was no change, and they each waited with baited breath. Then he started to change before their eyes. His hair grew longer and more wild, and his eyes turned from a dull blue to a vibrant variant, almost glowing with the help of the overhead lights. His servant wasn't able to back away in time before Simon viciously struck out with newly grown claws, taking out the poor man's heart with a single strike.

Sha's grip grew tighter as they watched his form grow. "We need to get out of here," she muttered, though only Hiei could hear her.

"Bit late for that. There's not much else we can do," he answered.

"You don't understand, he's using the genes of an S-class, we need to leave, now."

She didn't get to say anything more as Simon's energy exploded around them, sending them a few feet back.

"Just because he's got it, don't mean he knows how to use it," Hiei managed to answer as he regained his balance. "We have at least that for now." He felt her energy flare up once more. "I take it you've found your second wind."

"Yeah, though I don't know how long it will last." She got down and pulled out her rapier. "Everyone put everything you've got into what you've got left. That's the only thing we can do now."

Each of them nodded in agreement, their own energies flaring up around them as they readied their various weapons. Without another word they spread, each taking any opportunity they could to strike.

Each attempt though only met failure.

All of them flew back as their attacks failed, but that didn't stop them from continuing. Yusuke shot two of his remaining three shots, Kurama snapped his rose whip in a thorn wheel attempt, Hiei busted his sword trying to cut the man, Hyouga's ice attacks melted upon impact, Salem's shadows couldn't swallow him, Sha's fire couldn't burn him, Kitsu's whip wouldn't poison him, and Sukuna's webbings couldn't keep him encased.

Every one of them took some sort of abuse, ending up on the ground to catch their breath.

Simon laughed at them. "Is that really all you have? Come now, I thought they had sent the best to try and stop me!"

Sha growled and tried to stand, but Yusuke held her forearm securely. "There's one more thing we haven't tried. Though it's risky."

"Anything is worth a shot right now. You're the one with former leading experience, you call the shots."

"We'll need everyone to combine their energies into one last blast. That's our only option left. Unless you can turn into a big badass dragon that can eat him in one gulp."

She shook her head. "That'd be my father's magic, not mine. My dragon form isn't much larger than a Newfoundland dog. And with my second wind running dry, it's not possible to maintain it for long. So your first idea will have to work."

He nodded. "Any powerful long range attack you have, combine it with ours. Have your girls do the same."

"Hate to break up your little party," Simon said, "but I'm still standing. Let's keep this party going!" He threw a blast of energy towards Sha and Yusuke, making them dodge out of the way towards their teams.

Sha only had seconds to explain the tactics. "You all got it?"

All three nodded, and she gave the thumbs up towards Yusuke.

"On three, we run towards them. One, three!"

They scrambled to their feet and ran toward the other group, dodging blasts that Simon let out.

"Valdez!" Yusuke yelled, powering up his Spirit Gun. At the same time, Hiei readied the dragon, and Hyouga, Sukuna, Kitsu, Sha, and Salem poured their energy into Yusuke's gun. The blast on his finger instantly grew in size, and the colors varied from his blue, Sha's black, Hyouga's violet, Salem's deep blue, Kitsu's amethyst, Kurama's red and Sukuna's scarlet. "This is it!"

He released the blast right as Hiei released the dragon, the two attacks merging into a solid one. Each of the others continued pouring everything they had into the energy, even after it collided with their target.

One by one they fell to their knees as their energy dried up, praying that it would work.

The blast pushed Simon back gradually before tearing through his flesh, making it disintegrate before their eyes. "This can't be!"

Yusuke laughed. "All of those energies combined are a deadly combination. Don't underestimate the power of a team effort."

"No! I was going to be the one on top of it all! The—" He was cut off as a stream of blood escaped from his mouth as well as through many holes forming in his deteriorating flesh. "This isn't how it should be!"

"Oh just die already, you prick," Hyouga spat, holding herself up by her broadsword. "We're exhausted and want to go home already." As she spoke, she saw Sha collapse out of the corner of her eye. The half dragon's second wind had run out, and her body had put itself into hibernation mode. "See, Sha's already passed out from your dramatics."

Simon tried to say more, but the deterioration had reached his vocal cords, rendering it impossible for him to make any more than a few squeaking sounds.

She turned to Hiei, who was making sure Sha was really just sleeping. "Hiei, you're the only one with no big limit on their attacks. Can you send the dragon to his wares and make sure none of this leaves here?"

As he was about to answer, Salem cut him off. "I've got a better way." He held his arms out towards the shelves, and the shadows they cast began to grow, causing them to sink into the floor. Simon's body finally turned to ash as Salem destroyed the last shelf filled with human parts. "Easier to clean that way than just shoving the dust under a carpet."

Hyouga smiled. "I like the way you think." She nodded towards the ash. "Speaking of dust under a carpet, what should we do with this one? Can't exactly scoop him up and take him to Koenma."

Sukuna laughed. "Oh come on, yes we could. He's due for a good scare."

Kitsu nibbled at her lip while she put her flower away. "Remember he does watch us."

As if on cue Hyouga's communicator rang, and the dog smacked herself in the head. "Forgot about that fact." She took it out and answered. "Job well done, I take it?"

"Indeed, and no, Sukuna, this was enough of a scare for awhile," the prince answered. "He isn't a threat where he is anymore. Have Sha come collect your winnings when you leave the cave systems."

"Ah, that's gonna be a bit of a problem."

"Why? She only just passed out, right?"

"Erm, no. That was second wind she was on. She's gonna be out for a good twenty-four hours now."

Koenma put a hand to his forehead. "Very well. Hyouga, you're in command while she's incapacitated. Divide up the spoils as you see fit."

"Yes sir. We'll be back in the morning."

"Rest up. We'll have the reward ready for you."

The screen went blank and she put the communicator away. "All right, you heard him. Let's head home."


	26. Closure

**Happy birthday to me! That's right, today, November 17th, marks my 21st birthday. Luci's now an official adult! And to celebrate, I give you a long ass chapter, including, dundundun, a well-deserved lemon. Review, fave, keep doing what you're doing. Any form of love is well-taken. :D**

**Btw, this revamp is almost done. Maybe two or three more chapters and then I'll finally be able to revamp Bonds of Life. So without further adieu, the next chapter to Beginnings, Closure.**

* * *

26.

The sun had set long before they made it back to Salem's home. The walk out of the cave had taken a bit longer, since they had to investigate what used to be Simon's office. Salem destroyed all the documents they found, and Hyouga's keen eyes picked up on the panel that controlled the portal.

After finding no evidence of any survivors, they had trudged back up to the surface, each on their last leg of energy. By the time they returned, they all wanted nothing more than to fall onto the nearest solid surface and sleep.

"All right," Salem started as they made their way through the front door, "while you all have a room of your own, I honestly don't care where or when you end up passing out."

Sukuna managed to get out an "Awesome" before collapsing right where she stood.

Hyouga rolled her eyes and carried the unconscious spider to one of the couches, nearly falling over in the process from her own weariness.

Hiei didn't stick around to see where the others would disappear to. He took Sha into his room and laid her on the unmade bed. Her clothes from the night prior were gone, most likely from her moving them before they left, so instead of looking for them, he opted to just get her out of her ruined and bloodstained clothes. He felt his own exhaustion catching up to him, but brushed it off as he tossed the clothes next to a pile he had started a few days ago. He looked over her form, still covered in blood in some areas, and went to get a wet cloth from the bathroom to get at least some of it off.

The only time she woke throughout the whole process was when he was cleaning off a cut that was on her thigh. She sighed and opened her eyes a bit. "Where are we?"

"Salem's place. Go back to sleep."

"Mm…" She muttered something in Dracish, something that sounded like "amei auran", but he brushed it off and continued on with what he was doing before he ended up passing out himself.

When the last bit of blood had been cleaned off, he tossed the cloth onto her ruined clothes and undressed himself, going around the other side of the bed and slipping in carefully beside her. _Wonder what she meant by what she said._

_Probably telling you to leave her alone._

_Oh screw off; that's the last thing on her mind, especially after she's agreed to…_ He trailed off, thinking about the whole day, from start to that moment. _It wasn't a dream; she really did say she'd mate with me._

_Though are you so sure you want a mate at this point? A carrier of your offspring? So soon after being rejected by another?_

He pondered over his internal conversation for a moment, never taking his eyes off her sleeping form. _I'm sure of it. I do, more than anything in the world._

The nagging voice that had been harassing him for a year now chuckled. _Well done. Your estranged mind is finally finding a calm. Now all you need to figure out is if you want to do more than just mate with her._

He frowned. _Maybe. That I'm not sure of._

_If you end up wanting her to be your wife, you cannot mate until that day. Would you be willing to do that?_

_I'd… need some time to think about that. By the way, who exactly are you and why have you been harassing my mentality for a long time now?_

The voice chuckled again. _That would be something to ask your mother, if you had the opportunity to. I've done all I could for you to make you happy and lead you in the right direction, in a way you'd respond to. It's the least I can do for being a lousy father in life._

Hiei felt a jolt and suddenly sat up in bed, realizing he had been dreaming for the past hour. _My father…?_ He looked to his side to see her still sleeping, as she would be for another half a day. He put his head in his hands, no longer feeling the faint traces of the presence he had only recently become aware of. _Was that real, or just a dream? Though it did give me something to think about…_ With a final shake of his head, he laid back down and drifted off into his own recuperative sleep.

* * *

He didn't wake again until well into the afternoon, when his body would finally let him get up. Sha still had some time before she would wake herself, so he carefully got out of bed and redressed, searching for Kurama and Yusuke for a few answers to questions he still couldn't believe were running through his head.

He found them outside, both discussing plans of action with Hyouga.

"So your team is really leaving today?" Kurama asked.

Hyouga shrugged. "Well I went and picked up the bounty, but since the mission is officially over, we need to get back to our normal daily lives. So once Sha wakes, we'll be taking our leave."

"That really sucks," Yusuke said. "Was fun hanging out with you guys."

She smiled. "This isn't really goodbye. All of us live somewhere in Severa, which is only a few miles from here." She nodded her head to the city's skyline. "So it wouldn't be a problem to come back. I'll still be coming around, as well as Kitsu, no doubt." She gave Kurama a coy look before sipping at her tea cup.

Kurama looked slightly embarrassed, but didn't show it in his voice. "That is good news. There shouldn't be a reason for us all not to see each other again." It was then he noticed the other demon on the porch. "Come join us, Hiei. To be honest, we weren't expecting you to come out of there for the rest of the day, with what situation you're in."

"She's still asleep, for one thing." He uncrossed his arms and took the remaining open seat. "For two, I need to talk with you guys about something." He hesitated before looking to Hyouga. "You know her better than I do still, so I suppose having you in the conversation wouldn't hurt."

Hyouga looked at him curiously before setting her cup down on its saucer. "Um, sure, I guess. Not sure how much help I'll be."

"You'll help enough." He paused before asking, "By the way, do you know what 'amei auran' means?"

"Yeah, it's a formal way to say 'thank you', sort of like domo arigatou in Japanese. Only been able to pick up a few things in Dracish from being around her when she gets angry or upset. Sometimes she forgets she can speak English and Japanese and just reverts to rants in her native tongue, which I usually just let her get it off her chest, even if I can't understand it all." She folded her hands over her knee that was crossed over the other. "But what other help would I be to you?"

"With the other part, I'll need Yusuke and Kurama's help, since I don't understand human customs too much."

They each looked at him oddly, wondering what he was talking about, before it dawned on them.

Yusuke, eyes wide, said, "You're gonna ask her to marry—"

"Shut it, Detective." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I know this doesn't sound like me at all, but trust me, I'm sure on this choice. I just need you guys to help out, no questions asked. I don't want to kill you over a stupid thing like this, but I will if you push me."

Yusuke held up his hands. "All right, no teasing. It's a big issue, trust me on that."

"That's why I'm asking the ones who have both either done this already, or have experience in what needs to be done."

Hyouga bit her lip. "Well first off you need a ring. Second off, you need to figure out where to do it, and when. Thirdly, she can't expect a thing."

"So in other words," Kurama offered, "you need about a week, maybe less, to get your idea set. Good ring, good atmosphere. Not perfect, but close to it."

Hyouga looked at her watch. "She should be getting up in two hours, since she passed out around five yesterday. That's not enough time to get to Severa and back, considering you probably don't want to do all this alone."

Hiei nodded. "Hell if I know what I'm looking for, I just know I want to do it."

She bit at her lip. "Well yes, that's all good, but how will you pay for everything?"

"What else is there besides a small gathering and rings?"

Yusuke audibly groaned. "You have no friggin idea." He began to tick things off his fingers. "Caterers, DJs, guest lists, centerpieces, dresses, rings, the tux rental, the place to stay after, the reception hall, the area the ceremony will take place— which hell if I know where you guys as demons would do holy matrimony stuff— and that's about all for the big stuff."

The fire demon paused for a minute, thinking it over. "We'll just have to make do then…"

Hyouga looked him over carefully. "You really love her, don't you?"

He felt his nerves again, but ignored it. "That's none of your concern."

"You can't want all this without feeling that way. Hell, you can't want to mate with someone and have them willingly agree if that emotion isn't in play." She shook her head. "Bite the bullet and admit it, maybe not to us, but at least to her, in some way."

"When the time is right." He looked to the other two. "When they leave, will you help me?"

"Of course," Kurama said with a nod.

"Well if we're helping you find a ring, best option would either to go with a plain diamond, or get her birthstone, or her favorite color."

"Oh, her favorite colors are black and red, if that helps," Hyouga offered. "And her birthday's October 30th, so she's got the opal birthstone."

"Yeah, that helps," Yusuke said. "So there's a few options for you." He looked to Hyouga. "Any idea on size?"

"Um… her dad gave her a ring a few years back that I think was a size four. She managed to lose it in a fight though, so I couldn't double check. But my ring finger is about six, and her hands are just a tad smaller than mine." She drained her tea cup. "So best bet would be four."

Hiei nodded. "Just don't mention any of this to her."

"Of course I won't. Keeping secrets from her is fun, since she's so small and her intimidation acts don't work." She shrugged. "I keep joking that I'm going to get her a booster seat, since legality issues say anyone under 4'9" has to be in one. Funny to see her expression." She looked at her empty cup. "Though if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna head back inside and start putting things away for when she wakes up. Let her know that we'll have to leave as soon as possible."

He didn't verbally answer, but instead nodded and got up to head back in himself.

"Hiei," Kurama said before he could get back in, "you do realize if you want to do this, you can't mate with her until she becomes your wife."

"I'm aware."

"She's only expecting a bite and a few hours of sex. You'll need to come up with some excuse as to why you don't want to do the ritual for awhile."

He paused for a minute before opening up the glass doors. "I'll think of something."

* * *

He headed straight back to his room to rejoin her on the bed, wanting to be there when she woke for some reason. _So this is what Yusuke always fought so hard to protect?_

No answer came as it had been. No mocking, no reasoning, nothing. All he heard was a faint buzzing in his ears from coming in to complete silence.

He looked over her shoulder to the clock on the stand by his bed, seeing it read three-thirty. Without realizing it, he carefully rubbed her arm, reveling in the feel of her soft skin, marred only by a few fresh cuts that would eventually fade to minuscule scars. _Is this really what I want? A quiet life, waking up to the same woman in my bed every morning, sleeping with her near every night… _ He still scared himself a bit with the answer he came to, but pushed it aside to continue enjoying what he was doing.

She hadn't budged just yet, but she had sighed in content. Her deep sleep period had ended, allowing her energy to restore itself, and now she slept comfortably. The sighing responses she gave let him realize that she would start responding to stimulation, either physically or audibly.

Which lead him to have certain ideas. Ideas that, in the past, would risk him getting castrated if he even tried. He pulled her hair to the side, exposing her neck, and moved to be right up against her back, placing light kisses to the exposed area. At the same time, he wrapped his free arm around her side, lightly grasping and rolling her breast in his hand. _Yeah, any bigger would just be a waste…_ He heard her moan in her sleep and he grinned at her response. With his ego getting a boost, and his lower body starting to get hard, he nudged her legs apart with his own just enough to slip his hand down her body and stop at her core. He waited until he was sure she was still sleeping before moving his fingers slowly, instantly eliciting a low moan from her.

It didn't take long for her to wake up slowly, feeling fingers teasing her core. Instead of feeling violated, she let the actions happen, feeling the familiar male presence pressed against her back. "Mm, couldn't wait until I woke up?" she murmured, still shrugging off sleep.

"Under these circumstances, no, I couldn't." He continued on, feeling her sharp nails digging into his leg as he persisted. "That's it, my love, come for me," he muttered without realizing it, eventually drawing out her orgasm until she couldn't take the sensations anymore.

Without warning she straddled herself over his bared hips, holding herself up on his chest. "You stayed with me the whole time?"

"You're in my bed, and I needed to sleep too. So yes, I stayed, in an unconscious state."

She smiled and reached behind her, grasping on to him and making him hiss with desire. "Unconscious until you decided to have fun with my own unresponsive body."

"Ah, you weren't that unresponsive when I started." He gave her a challenging grin. "So why exactly am I on the bottom this morning? You know I'm not submissive."

"Not saying you should be, and it's not morning, _zai'mio_, it's midday." She moved her hips back to carefully slide onto his cock, hearing him groan against his sharpened teeth. "As for why you're on the bottom, well, I wanted to try something new."

"You've gotten more bold the past day or so." He wanted to lean up on his elbows, but since her hands lay flat against his chest to support her bit of weight, he let her have her fun. With growing fascination he watched her move on her own, his head too hazy to even try to switch rolls. Not that he wanted to at the moment, since it gave him quite a nice view of what those small breasts could actually do, and her changing expressions as she gradually brought herself to another climax. Also, her tail wasn't in the way of anything they were doing.

When her legs finally wouldn't hold her up anymore, she laid over him, giving them a rest. "How the hell do you keep at it for so long?"

He grinned at this, flashing his fangs at her. "Men have stronger muscles in the legs than women, in both humans and demons." To prove his point, he altered his laying position a bit and began to move in her while she couldn't. The feeling of pleasure intensified, but he didn't let himself slow down. The woman above him had moved a bit too slowly for what he wanted, but he had felt the need to let her do as she pleased for a bit. "And for the fact you're so damn light, it's easy to keep going, in any position."

She buried her face against his neck to muffle her moans, while also nipping at his earlobe, sending unexpected shocks right down to his navel.

He couldn't keep going for long, and though he hadn't willed for a child, he still pulled out, spilling onto his stomach as his breathing returned to normal. It didn't register what he did until a few seconds after. "… Ah hell. Can you get me a towel or something from the bathroom?"

Still breathing hard, Sha nodded and went into the other room, retrieving the towel she had used the morning prior. Still wordless, she slipped back under the covers, though facing him this time as he tossed the towel to the side. "You said 'under these circumstances' earlier. What did you mean by that?"

Hiei looked away before he answered. "Hyouga wants you and the other two to return to your normal lives. She wanted me to tell you that when you woke up, you were to all leave as soon as possible."

She sat up, startling him for a second. "And who the hell does she think she is? Telling me what to do and who I can do it with, and where I can be."

"Koenma made her temporary leader of your squadron. At least until you are completely back to normal."

"I am normal! And it's my choice to stay. We still need to finish what we started."

He felt his stomach turn to ice. "Your energy is recovered, yes, but your wounds are not. It will take large amounts of your energy to heal them, which you can't do if you're running errands. You need a day of rest yet, which you're to do at your own home." He didn't want to say the rest, but he knew it had to be done. "As for our agreement, I need more time to think about it."

She didn't say anything at first, but then she gripped onto the sheets tightly. "There's still things you need, done, isn't there?"

He wanted to let out a breath of relief that she was being understanding, but he didn't notice her eyes start to shine a bit. "There is. Some small things, and some big. I'll need a few days to get my priorities straightened out. After that, we can finish."

"You need closure."

He narrowed his eyes. "I'm not sure what you mean by that."

"Closure. As in going to see your ex and making sure nothing still exists."

"That wasn't in my plans, but I suppose that would be best." He reached out to brush her hair from her face, but she pulled away, making him feel a mild pang of rejection.

"Seek out your closure then. You'll know where to find me when you're done." She got out of bed and started looking for her clothes, but didn't find them right away. When she did and held up the torn and bloodied garments, she repressed a growl. "Great, now what do I do?" She was surprised to feel a light weight on her shoulders as he draped something around her. It took her a second to realize it was his cloak.

"Keep it for awhile. That way you know I will come back."

She held back on giving a snide remark, and instead just tightened it around her body, leaving his room for hers to get dressed and report to her temporary leader.

He sighed and rubbed at the back of his neck. _Closure really should be one of them. Guess that's something I should get out of the way today. … And hell if I'll ever understand females._


	27. Dates

27.

Sha's injuries had healed the rest of the way as the week progressed. Hyouga had threatened to hit her a few times if she didn't take a day off to sleep and regain her energy in full. Now she was back at work, sitting in records while doing some follow-up research in her two-piece black and red skirt suit, her black heeled feet crossed at the ankles under the desk she was at. She didn't let herself remember the last use those heels had given her.

She still hadn't heard from any of the guys in the week's time, and Hiei had also seemed to drop off the face of the planet. He had requested a few days to 'straighten out his priorities'. Whatever that actually meant.

And so a week had passed. Life for her went back to normal. In other words, life went back to being quiet and… empty.

She sighed and stopped chewing on the cap of her pen in boredom and packed up the files she had gathered to take them back to her office. Her focus on work had been slacking lately, but it was easier to slack while behind the oak doors of her office, where no one could see in and notice she was more so staring out her window instead of actually sorting papers.

She shifted the armful of files she had recovered as she sharply turned the corner and collided with a solid black mass also moving quite quickly. She landed on her backside with a small yelp as her files flew from her grasp. "I'm so sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going and—" She stopped short as a familiar amused chuckle came from the figure she had slammed into.

"I'll help." The figure knelt down before her and she looked right into a pair of red eyes.

Her breath caught in her throat, watching him pick up all her papers. "What in the world are you doing here?"

He arched a brow. "So I'm not allowed to come see my lover at work?"

She shook her head and blushed at the odd endearment. "No, it's not that." She took the files he handed her and stood straight again. "I mean where have you been? A few days is all you said, not a week."

Hiei frowned as he stood as well. "A week contains days, does it not? And a few is no set amount of numbers. According to logic and what I know of numbers."

"Well then fine, you're here. What were you looking for? Koenma's office isn't on this floor if—"

"I wasn't looking for his office. And I already know where that is. I tried finding you, and when I reached your office, I saw Hyouga coming out of one next to yours and she said you were in records. Nice outfit, by the way."

She folded her arms over the red-trimmed black jacket and fought the urge to tug her short black skirt down a bit.

"I seem to remember those shoes as well…"

She flushed again. "I suppose we'll need to finish this discussion in my office then." She led the rest of the way and closed the door behind them, silently rejoicing at the fact no one had gone by to see them both slip inside. After tossing the folders onto her desk, she turned to face him. "Really now, you keep dodging my question on why you're even here."

"I wanted to see you. Isn't that reason enough?"

"After a week's absence, it brings a lot of questions to mind." She nodded towards her phone. "You couldn't call? Write? Anything?"

"I've been busy. You'll have to forgive me for that." He rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a small knot of tension building from the past few days. "Been putting a lot of thought into what we've agreed to and what we've been through."

"You mean the mating thing?"

"Yes, that. I fully intend to have that fulfilled, if you still want it."

"Well yes. But you vanished after we left, so I thought you were running from your choice."

His gaze grew hard. "I never back away from choices as serious as that. I need you to believe me that I have all the intentions of mating with you. But I want to do something first."

She arched a brow. "Sex comes with mating, _ion'mio_, so you'll get that when the time comes."

"First off I have no idea what you just called me, and two, no, sex isn't it." He took a short breath to steady the foreign nerves building in his gut. "I'd like you to go out with me."

"Technically I already am, seeing as I'm your girlfriend."

"Not that kind. A… date, sort of thing. To a place."

She smiled softly. "A place? Ooh, sounds fancy."

He growled. "Don't make this harder for me to do. I'd like you to go out with me tonight. Only thing I request is you dress semi-formal."

Her smile faded. "What do you have in mind?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out later." He opened the door, but paused before leaving. "Something short. With shoes that come off easy."

She nodded and he left, letting her sink into her chair and let out an explosive sigh.

The silence didn't last long though, since he opened the door back up. "Would probably help if I knew where you lived."

* * *

At twilight, she ran around her apartment in a towel, trying to get everything in order while music played in the background to get her moving faster. His secrecy was irritating, she'd admit it, but at the same time, it was intriguing. She opened her closet door and started taking things off hangers, inspecting it, and then tossing it over her shoulder. "No… no… ick, why do I still have that? No… maybe, no wait he said short and semi-formal." She shook her wet hair, sending droplets of water everywhere. "Pull it together! It's not like he's asking you to marry him, so calm down. That couldn't possibly be it; he's not the type." She took a deep breath and continued pulling things out, finally deciding on a plain black cocktail dress and a pair of sandaled heels.

After getting changed she started putting the clothes back on their hangers. _Deep breaths. This is just a date after all. Nothing more to it._ _People in relationships do it all the time. _When she got everything put away she went into her bathroom to dry her hair and put on some makeup.

Just as she was putting the finishing touches to her eyes her doorbell rang and she nearly jumped clear out of her skin. She nervously dropped the brush and slammed the light switches off on her way out of her room, managing to smack her elbow into the doorknob. She gave a sharp swear in pain before taking one last deep breath and opening the door, and she was glad she did. On the other side was her date to be, dressed in nice black slacks, a pinstripe button up shirt, and holding a rose. She had a hard time pretending she didn't notice the difference. "Um, hi."

He snorted. "A 'hi' is all I get? Not 'oh hey, you look nice' or something of the nature?"

"Well you do. It's a nice change, but not something I would have thought you'd wear." She moved aside to let him in, realizing she still needed to turn off her computer and the other lights. "There's just a few more things I need to finish up and we can go."

He held on to her arm as she tried to move away and handed her the flower. "There isn't a rush. Don't have to be there right away."

She held it to her nose out of reflex, smiling. "All right Mr. Mysterious, where are you whisking me away to?"

"That's still for me to know and for you to find out." He grinned as she let out a growl of frustration. "Doesn't make me want to talk any more if you do that. You can't intimidate me."

Sha sighed. "No I suppose not. I'll turn this stuff off and put this in a cup." She nodded towards her couch. "You can have a seat if you want. Won't be very long."

Hiei watched with mild interest while she proceeded to turn off her lights and shut the bulky computer in the corner down. "You have a nice place. Small, but nice."

She smiled weakly as she grabbed her handbag. "It has a nice view, rent is manageable, and it's got just enough space. Nothing for a family, but just right for someone living alone or with a partner."

He followed her as she exited through the front door, locking it behind her. "Well no. A family would suffocate in there. A duo wouldn't be too hard to pull off."

She motioned down the hall towards the stairwell. "Lead away. You know where we're going."

"Patience. To get to where we need to go, we'll need to travel a bit."

She stared for a second. "There is no way in hell I'm running in these heels. You are out of your mind."

He couldn't help but laugh. "I wasn't suggesting that. I can't run very well in what I've got on either. It's not like you don't have a cab system in this city."

"Very true, but do you have fare for it?"

"I'll manage."

* * *

It didn't take them too long to catch a cab and continue on their way. As the cab began to slow down, Sha picked up on the scent of fish. "We're at the marina?"

"Perceptive, but not exactly right." Once the cab stopped, he paid the driver and helped her out of her side, grinning as he saw the expression on her face with where they were.

"You can't be serious. Look, I'd be just as happy going somewhere… well, not as pricey."

He had taken them to a family-owned joint on the beach, close to the marina. While the outside looked like a fancy shack, Sha soon discovered the interior looked like the dining hall on a cruise ship. "Don't worry about prices. Pretend they don't exist tonight."

She looked at him curiously. "What are you up to?"

"I'm not allowed to do nice things for you?" He told the hostess who they where, and she proceeded in leading them to a table outside.

"Your server will be right with you," she said, handing them the menus.

"Thank you," Sha said, waiting until she left. "No, I'm not saying you can't do nice things for me, but…" She trailed off, looking at the prices at some of the foods. "But I mean, we've been dating a week, and—"

"And what? I know how much all of this costs, and I want to do it. There isn't a limit on tonight, so don't hesitate. You see something you want, get it."

She bit her lip, but didn't press the issue any further.


	28. New Beginnings

**Yep, this is it. Now I can finally get to revamp "Bonds of Life"! I thank you all for getting this far, and would love to hear what you thought of this. I surprised myself, actually. This piece went from being around 30k words to 50.5k words, and near 100 pages! So anyway, read and review please. This is the one fic that I really would like feedback on. **

* * *

28.

"Well now I know why you said 'something short' in your request, and easy to remove shoes," Sha said as they walked along the shoreline, her sandaled heels in her hands behind her back. The waves occasionally lapped up over their ankles, but didn't go much higher.

"See, I think ahead most of the time," Hiei said, keeping his hand in one of his pockets. He kept reassuring himself the small box was still there.

"Hm, though I can never figure out what this particular location is. It's part of the ocean, and pretty wide across, but it's more a cove than anything."

"It's still a cove, no matter how wide it is."

"Isn't Salem's home on this same stretch?"

"A few miles out of city limits, yeah."

She was about to say something else when she stepped on a sharp rock, yelping in pain and jumping off that foot. "Stupid son of a bitch rock!"

"Can you walk on it?"

She gingerly put her foot back to the sand, and instantly retracted it. "Give it a few minutes to heal. Just need to stay off it until then."

Without warning he swept her off the ground, making her squeak, and took her to a small flat rock so she could sit on it. "Here, let me see."

"They really should put up signs or something," she grumbled while he looked at the injury.

"They do, when there's a mass amount of rocks. You were just the lucky soul to step on a stray one."

"Yippee…"

"It's nothing serious looking. It's already started to close." He paused, realizing the position they were in. _Guess now would be as good a time as any…_ He inaudibly gulped as his nerves started eating at his stomach. "Do you remember the conversation we had in the cave?"

She furrowed her brow. "There were a few. You mean the full one we had about human customs?"

"Yeah, that." He fiddled with his pockets again, which Sha didn't fail to notice.

"You've been messing with your pockets since we came down here. What's going on?"

_Man up. This is the only time I have to ask this. _He took a steadying breath. "Well, I had started thinking more about a certain one. And figured, 'what the hell, why not?'" He took the box from his pocket, not opening it just yet. "So for right now, you have to agree to not laugh at me."

"Hiei, is that—"

"I put a lot of thought into this, and I made sure everything was in order before we came to today. I'm positive I want to do this." With slightly fumbling fingers, he opened the box, revealing a deep red stone, one that appeared black until the light from the moon hit it just right. "So, if you'll have me, I want to be your husband, as well as your mate."

The pain from her small injury vanished, instead to be replaced with shock. "This is so sudden."

He felt a small pang of rejection. "You don't have to agree if you don't—"

She started laughing, and he saw the shine of tears at the corner of her eyes. "Of course I agree. Yes, I'll have you. Only if you'll have me in return."

He felt relief wash over him. "I wouldn't be asking if I didn't want this." He took the ring from the box, putting it on the correct finger on her left hand. "You're absolutely sure you want a beast like me as a mate?"

She rolled her eyes and surprised him by pinning him to the ground in a flash of speed he had forgotten she had. "I've told you this before, you're not a monster. Not to me, at least. And that is more than enough."

"This is looking oddly familiar," he noted, looking up where she had his wrists pinned.

She looked as well, and started laughing. "The second day of our meeting, yes. When we revealed our dreams."

"Ah, that's where you're wrong. You told, I didn't."

She opened her mouth to argue, but found he was right. "Well you still kissed me first, so there."

"I'm not complaining." He flipped them over, pinning her wrists with one hand. "Neither should you, considering where that mistake of a kiss has led us."

She smiled. "No, I suppose not."

They laid in silence for a second before he leaned down and captured her lips with his, cupping her face with his free hand. He pulled back to look at her. "I love you."

Her eyes widened for a moment, before the tears shined at her eyes once again. "Say that again."

"Not until you answer in return."

She laughed. "I love you too, _zai'mio_." She giggled as he nuzzled her neck, where he'd one day place his mark on her. "That tickles!"

It only encouraged him to do it more, loving the sound of her laughter. Until, of course, a rogue wave washed over both of them, bringing them back to the ground blinking in confusion. After a second they both started laughing.

"Well now what do we do? I don't expect a cabbie will let us in his car like this," she said while they got up, brushing off the wet sand from their clothes.

"Easy, they either let us on, or they die."

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, simple. It's just a good thing we don't have as much of an issue with murder as humans do."

He frowned. "I wouldn't really call it 'murder'. Murder is personal business.

"Whatever you wish to believe," she said with a smile. "So I suppose we should try to hitch a ride back to my place."

"Why's that?"

"Well, we can't really do the next part of this out in the open, and where you're staying is a bit too far away for me to wait."

He caught on after a second. "I guess we do need to do something while our clothes dry."

"Exactly. So we go back to my place and, ah, dry off."

* * *

The apartment door opened up only long enough for the two to enter and then it was slammed back closed by the impatient demons. They tugged at each other's still-wet clothes feverishly, tossing them wherever they were at the moment.

He tugged her legs over his hips and sat on the couch, holding her in place. "How badly do you want me?"

"Don't make me answer that," she said, hiding her face in the crook of his neck, placing kisses to a sensitive spot there.

"You have to, or I won't do anything." He growled as she hit a sweet spot, but otherwise did not cave. "Now say it."

She still didn't answer right away, making him slide his fingers down her back and around the base of her tail, surprising both of them as she reacted to a spot right underneath it. "A-all right, I give, I want you in me right now. Just, ah, just stop with that spot, it's driving me crazy."

"I think I'm entitled to know all your body's secrets, just as you're entitled to know mine." He shifted his hips and pushed into her while still stimulating the spot under her tail. "So let's see what this does to you."

Instead of sitting still and letting him move, she held on to the back of the couch and rode him, spurred on by his fingers' strokes. Soon the both of them weren't able to make coherent sentences, and so let themselves reach their first orgasm of the night.

They both stopped moving when they reached that point, struggling to catch their breath as blood pumped in their ears.

"I didn't even know that spot existed," she breathed.

"Mm, I'll have to keep that one in mind then."

"Well what about you? You should have some sort of weak point."

"Probably. Though none I know about. We'll just have to keep at it until we figure it out."

She grinned at him. "Is that a sort of challenge?"

"It could be. If you're up for going all night, of course."

"If I didn't have to go to work in the morning, I'd be all for it. But…"

"Then don't worry about it. We have all the time in the world to figure it out."

"You can still stay tonight, if you want. I don't know if you'd want to go back to Salem's place in wet clothes."

He shrugged. "Doesn't matter either way."

She gingerly got up, still regaining feeling in her legs, and led him into her rom. It was a little thing, with a queen-sized bed and a doorway to the left that led into a bathroom. They slipped under her sheets, black and soft to the touch, and got comfortable, with Hiei pressed against Sha's back, holding her close. She kept her left hand in front of her, staring at the ring he had presented only an hour ago. "You really mean this?"

"Hm? Oh. Of course I do. Why do you ask?"

"You just don't seem the type to want a wife is what I mean."

"I wasn't. But you changed that." He nuzzled her shoulder. "You've made me change a lot of things I used to do and believe in. Though that won't stop me from hating everyone else in this existence."

"I wouldn't ask you to do that." She paused for a bit before she snuggled back closer. "Say it again."

He let out an amused chuckle. "I love you. Shall I say it fifteen more times for you to believe me?"

"No, no I do believe you. It's just nice to hear." They fell into silence, making Sha think a bit more. Slowly, she frowned. "By the way, did you manage to find your closure?"

"I did. A lot easier than I thought I would too. She put up a fight, I told her off, said she was blind, she tried to redeem herself, and I just laughed at her like she had done to me." He couldn't help but start to lose against his fight with exhaustion. He hadn't given himself a chance to rest all week as he got everything in place. "I hope you don't mind, but I also got in contact with your father."

She squeaked and jumped up. "You met with my father and he didn't try to eat you?"

He furrowed his brow, but otherwise didn't budge. Her bed was oddly comfortable… "No, instead he yelled a bit, then laughed, then wanted to hug me. He's a strange man, by the way."

She pursed her lips. "Yeah, sounds like him. With someone he likes anyway." With a sigh she laid back down, though facing him this time. "Well I suppose that is a big thing out of the way. How in the world did you know where to look for him?"

For an answer, he let the jagan glow beneath the bandana. "I went off what little information I had. You had told me he was a Lord, and I know you're part dragon, and some of the other little pieces led me to Ryukai. It just took a little… convincing, to get by the guards and have an audience with him."

She burst into a fit of giggles. "Oh no, don't tell me you killed them!"

"And make it look like an invasion? Of course not. Just threw a few punches when they weren't cooperating."

"But all the dragons are giants! Compared to our stature anyway. None of them reach below six feet, apart from the hatchlings.

He grinned at this. "I've knocked around enemies more than twice my size. If I can handle nine feet, I can handle six."

After a second, she nodded. "Well all right, I'll buy it. Then what?"

"After a bit of convincing I was put in front of your father, who then demanded to know why I was there, and why I was harassing his kin. When I mentioned you, he seemed to falter a bit and sent his men away. And it all went from there."

She sighed. "I suppose if no harm came from it, then the turnout was fine." It was getting hard to stifle her yawns by then, and let one slip.

"Though I believe I've kept you up longer than you're used to."

"On a work night, yes. Hm, though I see no reason for me to go out on weekends anymore."

"Why's that?"

"Oh, well on Fridays, when we'd get out of work, Botan, Hyouga, Kitsu, and myself went out and had a fun time male hunting. Never were successful though. Seems now only Botan's left behind."

Hiei couldn't help but laugh. "Oh sure. Like Koenma isn't good enough for her tastes. She didn't have much problem seeing him in the past."

"Wait what? I was in jail two years ago while you were roaming free. Botan and him were an item?"

"Not officially, but most of us saw it. In that grown up version of himself, of course. I'm sure he's been taking it more often since then."

"I thought that was only because the four of us would laugh at him. But I guess it makes sense. She would sneak into his office randomly during the day. … And when we went out, she didn't really try at all."

He thought about something she had said awhile ago. "You had said sometime last week that you had been inactive for over a century, and that the only males that persisted only wanted you sexually. Isn't that what you females do when you want to find a male?"

Her face fell. "Mostly, that's what we were supposed to be doing. But I never found the point in persisting if no feelings were there in the first place." She smiled a bit. "Besides, I had been told it feels much better when love is involved, and not lust. Gotta admit, they were right."

"And when did you discover this?"

"The first time we had sex. That's why I had been so mad that morning. I was more upset with myself than you, thinking I had been foolish enough into opening up to someone who only wanted my body."

"But that wasn't the case."

"No, you showed that when you searched for me all day. If you had just been after my body, you wouldn't have cared enough to look." She yawned a bit.

"I've kept you up long enough. We have plenty of time to continue this later."

"Mm, that sounds like a plan." She turned back around and curled up into him, tucking her tail between her legs to keep it from being a nuisance. From the feeling of him pressed against her back, and his arms around her, she felt safe, for the first time in ages. And for the first time in awhile, she fell asleep with no trouble, unlike she had done when she had slept alone.

He listened to her breathing for awhile, not daring to believe what situation he was in. _This is all real…_

_You've done well, my son._

He jumped a bit at the unexpected answer. _Are you really who you claim to be?_

_I know you have many questions brewing in that head of yours, but I request you don't ask them. Though, yes. And no, you won't find me in a physical form. After I unwarily conceived you with your mother, I had left. I had no idea of that "pregnant every one hundred years" thing. Lucky coincidence I suppose. Anyway, I found out about you from Hina not too long before you were to be born. She was scared, and told me to stay close by, to try and find you. We had figured out about you before you were born, and so I agreed._

_Where were you then when I was cast off?_

His father sighed. _Cut down while trying to get there in time. My head was too wrapped up in fatherly business that I wasn't thinking clearly. _He chuckled a bit. _You'll understand what thoughts I was having eventually._

_But why are you trying to help me now? After all these years have passed, after all the choices I've made. Why now?_

_All those other choices were about your lifestyle, not your personal life. You found love as a foolish endeavor back then. A human-only emotion. That changed, when you were brought back from your deathbed. Mildly, and different than now, but it changed. Though I was there from the sidelines, watching over you as I had failed to do in life, and saw the error you were making. _

_Why didn't you pry me away sooner?_

_It wasn't the right time. And you weren't up to listening to voices in your head._

Hiei finally started feeling sleep tugging at him, also feeling a strong presence around him. _But why push me towards Sha? There could've been many other women out there I could have found, if given the chance._

_Ah, but that's where you're wrong. Given the chance, you would have killed off the emotion you had gradually accepted as a demon feeling as well. And Sha's a nice enough woman. Caring, compassionate. Shorter than you too._

_Yeah thanks._

_You don't get that from me. Something went wrong with the genetics, just as hers did. _He paused for a few seconds, before speaking again, a bit more faded. _My time grows short. I think you're in the right direction enough to not need a rotting old corpse around anyway. _

_But—_

_I know, the unanswered questions. Koenma might be able to give you a few answers. I just wish I could've seen you grow up in my lifetime. See you on the other side, though no time soon._

He tried to say something else, but the presence left him before he could get the words out fast enough. "Yeah. See you then…"

In that moment, he solidified his choice, leaving no doubt whatsoever in his mind. And he also didn't care that she had to be in the office in the morning, telling her to call in sick as he pinned her under him. In that point in time, nothing else existed, and a new life began. For all endings have a beginning lined up right behind them.


End file.
